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On the waterslide…
Eating Pizza…
Parker in a snazzy pink swim diaper…
And my Best Shot Monday…
Visit Mother May I for other Best Shots.
Don’t ask me why I felt compelled to write out the 10 hottest movie kisses. It was fun to compile them nonetheless. These are the hottest kisses ever IMO but feel free to comment and tell me what movie rated the best for you. Hottest = hyperventilating, salivating, feeling faint, and generally just unable to function after seeing these kisses. So let’s get started:
I don’t care what anyone says… the HOTTEST kiss ever to hit the silver screen is the kiss between Noah and Allie (aka Rachel McAdams & Ryan Gosling) in The Notebook. This is also one of the best films ever made, hands down. Noah and Allie are young and in love but Allie’s cruel parents separate them due to Noah’s lack of wealth and proper breeding. Years after they are separated and Allie is about to marry someone else she decides she needs to see Noah one last time. The hot kiss that ensues is followed by the one of the steamiest love scenes too.
So it’s not gonna be easy. It’s going to be really hard; we’re gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me… everyday. - Noah
The #2 best kiss goes to Satine and Christian (aka Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor) of Moulin Rouge, another one of the best movies of all time. Satine is a courtesan who works at the Moulin Rouge, a cabaret. Christian is an aspiring poet/writer who goes to the Moulin Rouge to see Satine and convince her to star in a play he is writing. She mistakes him for a wealthy Duke that she planned on meeting that evening and they fall in love. When their error is discovered it is to late…they are helplessly in love and cannot bear to be parted even though their forbidden love can get them both killed. It has some steamy kisses but the best is in the elephant room on top of the Moulin Rouge.
Then I’ll write a song and we’ll put it in the show and whenever you sing it or hear it. Or whistle or hum it then you’ll know. It’ll mean that we love one another.
The #3 hottest kiss goes to Rose and Jack (aka Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio) in The Titanic. Their forbidden love is agonizing to watch and their kiss on the stern of the ship while holding their hands outstretched in the wind is priceless. And their kiss after being reunited upon Rose’s death is pretty awesome too.
The #4 kiss goes to Robbie and Cecilia (aka James McAvoy and Keira Knightley) in Atonement. The tension between these two can be cut with a knife and when they finally meet up in a dark library watch out! This movie is also phenomenal and gut wrenching as shortly after that kiss they are separated by a little girl’s false accusation.
The #5 kiss goes to Erik and Christine (aka Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum) in The Phantom of the Opera. Butler plays the Phantom, a disfigured musical genius obsessed with the voice of Christine Daae, a beautiful young soprano. Their kisses are so full of longing and passion that the screen steams up.
The #6 kiss goes to Sally and Michael (aka Mark Feuerstein and Sandra Bullock) in Practical Magic. I couldn’t find a picture of this one but it was pretty darn awesome. As the clock strikes noon, Sally is overcome by the spell her Aunt’s cast and she runs down the main road of her small town and right into Michael’s arms, jumping on him and wrapping her legs around him to plant one heck of a whopper on him. The song in the background is This Kiss…which I also love.
The #7 best kiss goes to King Leonidas and Queen Gorgo (aka Gerard Butler and Lena Headey) in 300. No picture of this one either. King Leonidas takes 300 men on a suicide mission to save Sparta and leaves his wife behind. Their brief on-screen love scene is very steamy as is the affection he shows for her throughout the movie. His last words are about his love for her. Also 300 deserves a mention because it amounts to 2 hours of muscle bound men in skimpy underwear. Trust me this movie isn’t just for men….long live Sparta!
The #8 hottest kiss goes to Jim Craig and Jessica Harrison (aka Tom Burlinson and Sigrid Thornton) in The Man from Snowy River. Another forbidden love story but this Aussie film rocks, as does its sequel, Return to Snowy River. Jim is the hired help on big cattle ranch and he falls in love with the rancher’s daughter. When Jessica takes off and goes wandering in the dangerous snowy mountains, it is Craig who goes to find her. Their kiss takes place in probably the most picturesque place I have ever seen. It is absolutely amazing. These movies are classics…you MUST see them if you haven’t already.
The #9 hottest kiss belongs to Selene and Michael (aka Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman) in Underworld Evolution. Part of what makes this kiss so special is the fact that we waited all through the first movie, Underworld, for the love between the vampire Selene and the Werewolf Michael to result in a kiss but we were left with nothing!! In the sequel we are rewarded with one very steamy scene stolen inside an abandoned wearhouse while a vampire war is rampaging.
The #10 kiss goes to Faith and Peter (aka Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr.) in Only You. When Faith was a little girl a fortune teller and a wigi board tell her that her soul mate is a man named Damon Bradley. She searches for him in vain until one day he calls her to decline the wedding invite her fiance sent him! Faith hops on a flight to Venice (where Damon said he was going) to search for him. She pursues him all over Italy until she meets Peter, who immediately senses a connection between them and decides to pretend to be Damon… her long lost soul mate. Their kiss, in the wee morning hours, after walking all night in Rome, is not to be missed.
So what makes your top kisses list?
If you have ever planned a wedding you probably bought tons of bridal magazines…I know I did. Most of them are full of honeymoon ads and one ad that always hooked me from the get go was Beaches Resorts. I soooo wanted to go to Beaches for my honeymoon. But since we weren’t paying for it we had little input on that aspect of the wedding. We ended up having a great time in Vegas, staying at the Bellagio, and sipping 44 ounce margaritas!
I never forgot Beaches though and I have thinking of them often lately as they also have family packages that look amazing. If you are not familiar, Beaches are all inclusive resorts. So when you book a vacation with them food, fun, activities, etc. are all included in the price. So parents can scuba dive and eat a gourmet restaurant while their kids see the Live Elmo show and eat grilled cheese in the room with one of the Beaches certified nannies. Fun for the whole family but it does allow for mom and dad to get some alone time in…which I love because unfortunately for hubby I am not big on going on vacation without the kids. I don’t like experiencing wonderful new things without them. My parents always took me and my brothers and I have always taken mine. So any resort that is for the WHOLE family is tops in my book!
They also have some amazing destinations… Turks & Caicos, Negril, Jamaica, & Boscobel. Boscobel even has a killer waterpark. AND right now Beaches is having a WonderFall Promotion. GET 1 free night when you stay 5 or 6 nights. GET 2 free nights when you stay 7 nights (or longer).Valid in any category at one of the resorts above. Combine it with up to 45% off for incredible savings. A GREAT deal on a great family vacation. Oh Beaches how I love thee….
Who doesn’t want dazzling white-sand beaches, translucent turquoise water and a vast array of exciting amenities. Me, me, me!! Take me away Beaches!
Okay, okay …so I have been crushing on him awhile. But since he just released a new movie, I have been crushing on James McAvoy even more than ususal. Just look at this yumminess:
His new movie is called Wanted with Angelina Jolie. Angelina is just window dressing…James rocks as an action star and assassin. Other movies of his that I loved: The Chronicles of Narnia (only he could look hot playing a goat), Becoming Jane, and Atonement. The last two will have you crying your eyeballs out.
Anyway I got to thinking about which male celebs I dig the most and Gerard Butler of course, tops the list:
Oh and I MUST mention my sweet Ewan McGregor:
It doesn’t get any hotter than this but … uhm…anyone else noticing a pattern here??? Their all Scottish! Yes, I guess this Scottish lassie has a thing for Scottish lads. Of course I ended up marrying a Ruskie. But just look at my kids names…Maclivane, Mackenzie, Maclain. Scottland sure knows how to turn em out. 
Cool beans! I recently got a nifty new product to review from Schlage Locks. It just so happens I really needed this product because I am not big on locking doors. I usually have a 40 pound kid in one arm and and other take along items in the other so who has time. Also, if your keys get stolen…and I have uhm…lost a few sets in my time…then you don’t have to worry because these key pads are digital. No key, just a code.
They are super nice looking too so I didn’t have to worry about an ugly lock. There are several nice shades like bronze, pewter, and chrome. AND they are really easy to install. No keys to hide, lose, carry or forget, ready to use right out of the box - 9 volt battery included, allows you to add, change or delete user codes in seconds, and can be installed with just a screwdriver in less than 30 minutes. They come with keys just in case too. I like the fact that my kids won’t need to carry keys around that they can lose either they just need a code. Once you input the code you hear a click and you can open the door. Easy!
In addition to the exterior lock/deadbolt they have interior locks that can go on basement doors, garage doors, office doors, etc. I would love to have one for the basement door.
At $130 these locks are up there in price but I think they are well worth it. We now have one for both exterior doors and are thinking of adding interior ones as well.
I admit I often wonder about moms who like to refer to themselves as Yummy Mummies or heaven forbid,
MILFs (if you don’t know…I ain’t tellin). As a wife and mom of three I can think of sooooo may other important things to be…like a good role model, a good person, and educated person, etc. While it may not be high on my list of priorities to look like some hot mama I do appreciate many aspects of The Yummy Mummy Manifesto. It IS important to feel youthful and good about yourself so that you can be a refreshing, playful parent and one who doesn’t lose her identity after she becomes a mom.
This book guides moms through maternity and motherhood with style, passion, and a healthy sense of self. It encourages moms to look at motherhood as an adventure…an art…not a skill.
Some of my favorite chapters included:
The book was funny and refreshing and perhaps just what a stressed out, down in the self image dumps, mama needs. You probably aren’t going to have the beauty and confidence of Angelina Jolie but you can be improve what you’ve got and make the most of and feel GOOD about it. And kids need to see a mom who feels good about herself!
I LOVE to read but I don’t read fiction all that much anymore. When I was younger I used to devour fiction novels but now I prefer non-fiction. Recently though I was reading a blog that had some info on Alex O’Loughlin and in the blogroll I kept seeing links to web sites about Edward and Bella. Well who in the heck are Edward and Bella?!
I did some clicking and found that Edward and Bella are fictional characters in 3 NY Times best selling books by Stephanie Meyer and the main characters in an awesome movie coming out around Christmas. When I found out that these books were actually vampire romances…I had to read them. I am a BIG sucker for vampires…no pun intended.
I headed out to Borders within minutes and bought all 3 books. The first is Twilight. WARNING!!! If you don’t want to know what happens in these books WITH DETAIL…DO NOT READ!!!!!
In Twilight we meet Bella who has just moved to the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state from sunny Arizona. She is moving in with her father, whom she does not know all that well. Her parents split up when she was young and her mother never could get used to the small Washington town of Forks that sees only a few days if sunshine a year and it rains almost constantly. But Bella’s mom wants to travel with her new minor league baseball player boyfriend so Bella decides to relocate to her father’s home.
Bella is anxious about fitting into a small town highschool and she is something of a curiosity, although what peaks her interest is 5 unusual and reclusive students. They are quite simply the 5 most gorgeous people she has ever seen. They also have an unusual story…they are all the adopted teens of the equally gorgeous and young town doctor and his wife. They are Edward, Emmitt, Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper Cullen.
Bella’s first real encounter with one of them places her at adds with the Cullen she is the most intrigued by…the stunning Edward. She sits next to him in Biology class and he is anything but friendly. He grips his desk the entire class as if he could snap it in half at any second and he glares at Bella with hatred in his eyes. After class Bella discovers Edward in the office trying to switch Biology classes and once again she is the victim of his death glares. On one hand Bella would like to think there is no possible reason he could have anything against her, but her instincts tell her she is indeed the reason for Edward’s bizarre behavior.
Edward disappears from school after that for many days until finally he returns and this time he is much more friendly to Bella in Biology class although clearly still tense when around her. Their relationship takes and unexpected twist one morning before school when a fellow student loses control of his van on the icy school parking lot. Bella is directly in the path of the van and about to be crushed between it and her own vehicle. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Edward across the parking lot watching in horror as she is about be killed.
The next thing Bella knows Edward has leaped into the path of the on coming van and he shields Bella with his body and uses a single hand to stop the van in its tracks. Wide-eyed Bella knows immediately that Edward is superhuman. Having demonstrated his abilities and powers to Bella, Edward confides in her that he has been seventeen for almost 100 years. He is a vampire. He and his family have chosen to live peaceably with humans and not feed on them. This is especially hard for Edward since he met Bella though as her scent is more powerful and enticing than any he has ever come across.
So begins their love story as they get to know each other…a vampire and a human, inextricably drawn to each other. Both quickly realize that even with all the obstacles between them they can’t bear to be apart and they start spending every waking moment together. Everything hits the fan though when Bella accompanies the Cullens into the woods to watch them play a game of vampire baseball. Unexpectedly a group of 3 unknown vampires (James, Laurent, and Victoria) traveling through the area find them and ask to play the game. Everything is civil at first until James catches Bella’s scent and realizes that she is human. I fight nearly ensues as Edward protects her but unfortunately this intrigues James, who is a true hunter. Alice, who can see the future, sees that James has set his sites irrevocably on Bella as his next kill.
The Cullen family must now figure out how to protect their new human friend as she is stalked by a ruthless vampire. Edward can’t imagine losing the soul mate he has waited almost a century for. The book has many twists and turns but by the end Bella knows that she wants to spend eternity with Edward and she wants him to turn her into a vampire.
I LOVED this book! I was glued to it from page one.
I then quickly dived into book two called New Moon, which opens with Bella being distraught that she is celebrating her 18th birthday, making her forever more “older” than Edward. Edward however is not willing to turn her into a vampire because he cannot be sure if vampires have souls and he is not willing to take Bella’s if in fact, they are soulless and damned.
The Cullens throw Bella a birthday party innocently enough but when Bella accidentally cuts her finger while opening presents, Edward’s vampire brother, Jasper is overcome with thirst and he tries to attack her. Bella is thrown into a glass table where she is severely cut on the arm. Only Carlisle, the head of the family and a doctor can stand to be in the same room with her while she is bleeding. He quickly stitched her up but the damage has been done. The Cullens realize that a vampire family isn’t safe for the very human and fragile Bella.
The Cullens decide to leave Forks and start over somewhere else. Edward tells Bella he is leaving her for her own protection and they can’t ever be together again. He makes Bella promise that she will never put her life in danger and when Bella insinuates that she might do exactly that to end her misery Edward promises her that if she were to die he would soon follow by provoking a fight with a large vampire clan in Italy.
A large portion of the book from here after follows Bella for months as she sinks into depression. Only after 4-5 months of depression does she attempt to get back to normal, when her father threatens to send her back to her mom, who is now living in Florida. Unwilling to leave Forks, just in case Edward comes back, she does her best to put on a show that she is getting better. She starts visiting one of her oldest friends named Jacob, who lives on an Indian reservation nearby. Jacob is the one who initially told Bella superstitious stories about vampires and werewolves who lived in area.
Bella discovers accidentally that when she engages in some sort of reckless or dangerous behavior he “hears” Edward in her head speaking to her. In an attempt to keep him nearby…even if it is just his voice, Bella starts engaging in risky activities. She buys two motorcycles and convinces Jacob to get them running for her, one he can keep as payment. She also asks Jacob to take her cliff diving. All the while they work on the bikes together they get closer and Jacob really does help her to tackle her depression. She comes to rely on him like someone relies on the sun for warmth. He becomes her very best friend, although she is soon to discover that he is a werewolf and the mortal enemy of the vampire.
The vampire Victoria is back in the area and hunting Bella in vengeance after Edward killed her mate, James. Jacob and his wolf pack become busy hunting for her most days and Bella decides to attempt cliff diving on her own. When Alice, who has still been monitoring Bella from afar, sees a vision of Bella jumping from a cliff she assumes Bella has commit suicide. She tells Rosalie she must go back to Forks to be sure and she boards a plane. While Alice is in flight Edward calls home to check in and Rosalie tells him that Bella is dead.
Edward calls Bella’s home to speak to Bella’s father (Charlie) but Jacob answers the phone and tells him that Charlie is at a funeral (family friend). Edward believes that Bella is dead and he boards a plane for Italy.
When Alice gets to Forks she quickly “sees” what has happened and where Edward is going. She and Bella take off for Italy to try and save Edward’s life.
The book ends with the Cullens realizing that Bella is family and that they can’t leave her. They decide by vote that Bella will be turned into a vampire if she wants to, without Edward’s consent.
Then we move on to book three, Eclipse. In this book the vampire clan and the werewolf pack are still trying to stop Victoria in her hunt for Bella. She has formed a small army and Alice sees they will attack within days.
Bella is torn between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob as both are consumed with jealousy. They have to join forces though as Victoria’s army grows large and dangerous and a truce between these mortal enemies is reached. Bella also comes to realize that what she feels for Jacob is more than friendship…she is in love with him too. He is like the sun for her but Edward is an Eclipse and she can never leave him. She and Jacob are heartbroken as Bella makes preparations to marry Edward and be turned into a vampire shortly thereafter.
I can totally see the imagery used. Jacob is the sun…light, relaxing, centering, stable. Edward is the moon, seductive, dangerous, exotic, erotic, and ever changing. How can you not love both?
There is a 4th book coming out in August that is being anxiously awaited. Will Bella and Edward get married? Will he turn her into a vampire as promised? What will happen between Bella and her other love, Jacob? Will Bella be able to handle leaving all her mortal friends and family members? I need some answers!!!
Mom Central recently sent me some bottles of CranEnergy juice drinks to try. I am not usually an energy drink person but I do like juice and I am generally fond of energy too so I thought I would give them a whirl. They taste pretty good. My favorite was the cranberry/raspberry combo juice. The juices are enhanced with natural energizers like green tea extract and B vitamins. It also has Vitamin C to help boost immunity. I did get a nice energy kick.
My daughter really liked them too. She kept snaking the bottle when I wasn’t looking. The only negative is that they are sweetened with Splenda, of which I am not a fan. I would love to see them make a Stevia sweetened version….that would rock. I guess the idea is that they have only 35 calories per serving so they are much lower in calories than soda or other energy drinks. I don’t drink either of those though so it is not a selling point but overall they taste good and Splenda is better than Aspartame. So if you have a soda or Gatorade addicted person in your life these might be a better alternative for them.
I need a diaper cake for a baby shower. Do I make one? Do I buy one? DO I use disposables or cloth? So many questions and so many options in adorable baby gifts and specifically baby shower gifts. Since I live in a small town if I go to the ONE big store we have then duplicate gifts might be an issue. Guess I need to look online.
I am leaning towards maybe buying one…most moms are still using sposies. I found Lil Baby Cakes online, a place that makes diaper cakes and they are pretty cool looking. I love the 4 tier cake with little frogs and it is for a little girl which is perfect. It looks like you get diapers, a pink blankie, toys, and Burt’s Bees products. I just love Burt’s Bees and they are pretty safe and natural products…great for babies.
If they made that cake with cloth diapers it would rock! They also have cakes in a safari theme, a religious theme, a teddy bear theme, and a princess theme, among others. They also have gifts you can order and personalize. Looks like a great shop!
I am just wondering how shipping a diaper cakes works.
I joined an online unschooling group recently and foolishly I did not read the group’s mission statement. It was actually a group of “radical unschoolers”. I think I have talked about them here before and while I think they have a lot of valuable lessons they can teach about living with compassion and peace, sometimes I think they are a bit off their rockers and I am pretty “out there” myself.
Right after I joined the group a discussion started about an unschooling magazine run by an unschooling family. Apparently the family ran across hard times…financial and possibly an illness. Basically this means they stopped publishing the magazine six months ago with little or no communication to their subscribers. To make matters worse they are still accepting payments for subscriptions today and have been this whole time. So people have been sending money for this magazine for months and getting nothing in return. AND they have been in contact via email with some of the people on this particular group so they can’t exactly say they are not able to get online, otherwise communicate, or refund money.
Some of the unshooling moms on this group were getting pretty angry and felt as though perhaps a talk with the BBB or taking legal action was needed….since they were out money and also since this family was still collecting money under false pretenses. Basically this family is stealing IMO and in the opinions of several others on this group. The family is not answering emails or letters in regards to this situation either.
Well, when legal action was mentioned a nice portion of the unschoolers started belittling the women who were upset by this theft. I kid you not they started telling them to let it go….that the family must have needed the money more than they did and they should be thankful their family is healthy instead of making a big deal out of $30. They told these women that they had no sense of compassion and that a decent person would just consider their money lost as a donation to a worthy cause and get over it. Oh and here was the BEST one…one lady said that the ones upset by the theft were actually given a gift. You see they had been looking to a magazine to fix some deep seated problem in their lives and when their money was stolen they now had a chance to look inward and fix that problem and come out a better person.
Oh wait…no…the most outrageous thing was when another lady compared taking legal action to how some jerk actually called the police on her to “punish” her when she decided to leave her baby in the car while she went into the library to check some books out.
WTH?!?! Now they use radical unschooling (RU) to explain away theft?? What a bunch of BS! Apparently RUs believe that stealing is okay if you need whatever it is you stole more than the person you stole it from. And compassion dictates you let people steal from you as needed.
Ugh….I think I should unsub from this group.
