American Idol, duh!

Ok everyone:

Tonight is "Rat Pack" night on American Idol! Exciting, right? I actually think this genre will lend itself well to Matt G., so I'm anxious to see how he will do...

So I'm ready to make some predictions...I think the next to be booted off will be poor Allison, then Matt, and in a surprise to most (but not to me), Danny Gokey.....leaving cute Kris and Glambert (the obvious favorite) in the finale.......Just guessing ya'll...Although, according to a very reliable source (my fellow blogger, Perez Hilton) Adam and Kris have been the most downloaded two contestants on Itunes and that could be a very reliable source of knowledge for the grand finale.......we will see how it all pans out soon enough....So good luck tonight to The Doak gals' favorite, Kris and we will chat more tomorrow...........

Go Kris!!!!!!!

Every Kid Has Thier Talents, Mine Just Happens To Be An Artistic GENIUS!!

Quinn drew this picture today everyone...BY HIMSELF...And in case some of you can't remember back to having a two year old, or for those of you who haven't had kids, this is damn impressive, if I do say so myself....I remember @ the end of the school year in Stella's three year old preschool class they had her draw a self portrait and I remember her teacher telling me they are happy if the kid draws some sort of head/body and a few facial features....this is @ age 3/4....So with that knowledge in hand it is clear that Quinn is; quite simply put, BRILLIANT.....Quinn wouldn't let me take the picture until he drew "crazy hair" on his guy. Enjoy ya'll...have a great day!!

A Weekend Getaway

Hi everyone:

Jay and I managed to get away without the kids this weekend. We took the camper out to Newport News City Park on Saturday for an overnight trip! We went to Busch Gardens by ourselves and were able to ride TWO adult rides....The park was PACKED with some sort of band/cheering competition so we ended up leaving the park early and coming back to take a nap in our comfy and cool camper...Definately not something we get to do on weekends with the kids...so that was nice. We made an awesome campfire on Saturday night and Jay used his new marshmellow roasters. We rented a canoe on Sunday and took it out on the Newport News reservoir...Overall we had a great time...We are already planning our next trip....

Happy Earth Day!!!

Happy Earth Day everyone! This year me and the kids are trying to grow some vegetables and herbs in containers so, wish us luck because as many of you know, I need it...Anyway, here is photographic proof that I was able to transfer these plants from their original containers into their new homes without killing them....ha! I don't know why this gardening thing eludes me...I'm usually very good @ everything I do....strange : )

A Busy Weekend

Yesterday Jay and I took Ashlyn to the zoo for a little quality time with our middle child....We hardly ever get to do things with only one of the kids @ a time so it was nice spending time with just Ashlyn....We took her to Doumar's afterward for a hot fudge sundae....

This Is The Happiest Day Of My Life

That's what Stella said today while we were @ the beach and I have to say, today ranks right up there with one of my happiest as well. We headed out to Sandbridge first thing this morning...The weather was absolutely perfect. It felt like we were @ some sort of exclusive private resort. Just a few other families...lots of space. We were able to park close to the grills and picnic tables so we took a break for lunch and Jay grilled hot dogs. The girls got wet while Quinn and Jay built sandcastles....Stella found a TON of shells...just a perfect day...

I Am Completely Aware That Adam Lambert Will Probably Take This Thing--I Don't Live Under A Rock, Although I Wish I Did After Last Night's Performance

After last night's American Idol I am completely convinced this show is totally biased! This may as well be called "The Adam Lambert Spectacular." Did you see all of the production that went into that sucka's performance?!!! Come on! The lighting, the special effects on his voice...give me a break!! Adam is a TOTAL one trick pony and that one trick is getting OLD!!! I'm sooo over him and his theatrics...I just wish he would go back to Broadway where he came from....I don't completely hate him I'm just so bored by his performances...
And speaking of bias if Danny Gokey sings out of tune one more time, but looks up to heaven while doing it and gets mad praise from the judges I swear I will lose my dinner...ok maybe I'm being a little mean...But I'm angry...If a super talented guy like Kris gets criticism for hitting every note perfectly then I don't know if I can even continue watching this show (do I saw that EVERY week?). Randy's criticism of Kris's performance was soooo off base!!! Kris nailed "Falling Slowly" (Which, by the way, is from one of my favorite movies evah...go check it out if you haven't seen it...sooooo awesome). And did he even get props for picking something NON Aerosmith or Bryan Adams? NO!!! I suppose this makes Kris NON relevant....whatever! This show is a SHAM! All those days of playing with Journey or Mariah Carey or whoever have obviously effected Randy Jackson's hearing And while I'm up here I just have to say I hated the whole two judge criticism this week...I know why they were doing it, but I completely hated it! Again complete bias....ugh....
So who do I think sounded good this week?? Well Kris completely gets and A+ from me! I'm guessing Lil, Anoop and either Allison, or poor Matt to be the bottom three.


Donna here, (stepping off her soap box) and signing off..........



This pic is for Amy...

Happy Birthday Brown Diggy!!

So today is Brown Diggy's 10th b-day. 'Yo, That's like 70 in Diggy years," Brown Diggy has reminded me...For those of you who don't know about Brown Diggy, I will educate you: Ten Easters ago I woke up to find this adorable stuffed bear? in my Easter basket. Jay had found him @ Target and thought he was cute. We decided that this animal wasn't really a bear, but kind of a combination between a monkey and a bear...a monkey-bear, perhaps? I named him Diggy and for some reason became extremely attached to him...When Jay's b-day came around I headed to Target and found another monkey-bear. I snatched him up to include with Jay's b-day gift and Blue Diggy was born. The diggys, in many ways, became our alter egos and after a long day Jay and I would convene at home and spend some quality time with each other and with the Diggys. They would often express the things that Jay and I wouldn't feel comfortable saying directly to each other. The Diggys developed quite the personalities and they weren't always nice:

"Yo, Brown Diggy you stink today."

"Whatever, Blue Diggy, you're not even Blue....You're green."

But they were always funny. Blue Diggy was an aspiring performer. He took his pain of losing Pink Diggy and turned it into a phenomenal ballad. Brown Diggy was a fantastic tumbler in his day. His acrobatic skill always impressed me and Jay. The Diggys traveled with us wherever we went...even making it to the hospital for the birth of Stella and Ashlyn. And when little Quinn was in the NICU we snuck Brown Diggy into Quinn's little bed. I'm convinced Brown Diggy played a huge part in Quinn's recovery. I even brought Brown Diggy with me to the hospital when I had my thyroid removed. All the doctors and nurses probably thought my sweet little children had given me one of their beloved stuffed animals for good luck. Little did they know that beloved stuffed animal was MINE. And so I wish my very loved Brown Diggy a very happy 10th birthday.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone! The Doak Family kicked off our Easter celebrations yesterday at Grams' house. Unfortunately, our planned Easter Egg Hunt got rained out! We ended up hiding the eggs in Gram's den. I don't even think the kids noticed the difference! They had a great time. Grams made a fantastic dinner. The conversation was nice, the best part being the in depth analysis of American Idol : )-- though Uncle Rob needs to stop lying about not watching the show. He suspiciously knows WAY more about American Idol than someone who claims to have only seen it three times....Come clean Rob...We know the truth..

We woke up this morning to find the Easter Bunny had not only visited the interior of our home, but had also left a surprise (and a footprint mess) on our front porch : ).....Good thing he wiped his feet before he came into my house : )

Got The Blues

Stella has been taking piano lessons for about a year and a half. She loves to play and she loves her teacher, Ms. Elizabeth. Here's is a short piece she has been working on for the past couple of weeks...

Not For The Faint of Heart

So I was reading this interview with Miley Cyrus today (what?...I TOLD you I was obsessed with pop culture...besides I'm keeping my eye on that gal since my little ones seem to watch her every move)...And in the interview Miley touched on a subject close to my heart...Twilight! and more importantly Twilight's hunky leading man, Robert Pattinson...And in this said interview, little Ms. Cyrus said that she wasn't "into" Robert Pattinson and that in fact, no one really is. Those of us enamored by Rob Pattinson, according to Miley, are really only into the character he plays, Edward Cullen. Well, I don't wanna start nothing with little Miley so I will shamefully crawl into a corner and quietly......agree....to a certain point...I will say that my interest in Robert Pattinson did START with Twilight, but has curiously evolved into something sooo much more :) And wherever this crush began doesn't in any way diminish it's validity (insert Jay rolling eyes and wondering where his wife went).....I mean, I think most of us will agree on the hunkiness of Johnny Depp (insert Jay picking up the phone to call divorce lawyer). Are ya'll with me? But if you think back to Depp's humble beginnings (21 Jumpstreet, anyone?) it would be easy to say that Depp could have fallen into the "flash in the pan" category, but look where he is today!! A super hunky pirate, right?...I'd like to think my dear Robert Pattinson has the staying power of a Johnny Depp...I mean, he clearly has a knack for choosing fantastic parts and well, I could say more but I'd like to keep the shattered pieces of my marriage contained within one little blog entry...I will end on this note...It's nice that this fantastically fictional character has been "brought to life" so to speak and maybe I do have the crush on Edward and NOT Robert Pattinson, but I don't really have the time to analyze things that deeply...I gotta go watch Twilight. Love to all...especially my fantastically HUNKY and NONFICTIONAL husband!

Stella

Stella is definitely my little partner in crime. She's a fun kid to be around. She has a fantastic sense of humor and is wise beyond her years (as well as mine). She makes me smile daily and I'm a lucky person to know such a cool kid....Stella is passionate about two things in life: her family and music...books and swimming are close behind....It's staggering how talented this kid is when she puts her mind to something. Everyone always tells Stella to not grow up too fast...but every age, every milestone with her has been a blessing and I get so excited when I think about her future and what's to come for this little wonder kid...I don't begrudge her growing up I relish it for sure....

A Day At The Beach

We took the family down to the boardwalk this afternoon! The weather was just gorgeous!! A little chilly on the beach, but that didn't stop the kids from wanting ice cream @ Dairy Queen. The girls could have stayed on the beach the whole afternoon. Stella digging in the sand, Ashlyn getting her feet splashed....Jay and I had fun making up stories about the boys on the beach skim boarding. All in all a wonderful afternoon.

Come On! I Can't Be The ONLY One!

You would think that being married for nearly eight years would guarantee that Jason knew nearly everything about his loving spouse (me), but Jay recently discovered a little secret that I had unintentionally kept from him for the entire duration of our relationship and that is--I have NEVER had a McDonald's Big Mac. Nope, not ever...I've never even tried one, nor have I had the desire to. It's not that I don't eat meat, or enjoy the occasional hamburger. In fact, my favorite combo meal @ McDonald's is their two cheeseburger meal. So why not a Big Mac, you ask?...Well the simple answer is I don't like wet bread...at all..it freaks me out...I really can't have any "special sauce" on my bread, or ketchup for that matter...Mustard doesn't bother me...So the special sauce has completely and always ruled out the Big Mac option for me...I tried to explain this to my shocked husband, but he wasn't hearing it...He didn't believe me...He was CONVINCED I was lying (why, to sound cool?) and then his disbelief took an ugly turn and he accused me of being UNPATRIOTIC! Since when was eating or NOT eating a BIG MAC associated with ones' level of Americaness? Is it THAT unusual that I've never had a Big Mac? So, Jay and I took a very unscientific poll (umm we asked my in laws) to find out if I was, indeed, in the minority (as if my in laws needed ONE more reason to think I was weird)...And guess what, people? I AM in the minority. If this is as shocking to you as it was to me then please help me out! I'm opening this poll up to include a broader cross section of people and I want your honest answers...no trying to be cool : ) Have you, yes or no, ever consumed a Big Mac? I'm looking for one or two compatriots here (all puns intended)...to prove to Jay that I'm not the weirdo he thinks I am!!! Take care ya'll and have a great weekend........

Ashlyn

Ashlyn is the funniest kid I know. I know all parents think their kid is funny, but Ashlyn is truly a riot! She will make you laugh out loud with some of the crazy things that come out of her mouth. But what a lot of people don't know about Ashlyn is that she is EXTREMELY sweet. She's a cuddler and loves to snuggle..She's much more sensitive than a lot of people give her credit for. She climbs in bed with me nearly every morning to just hug. This morning during our cuddle session she told me she was in love with me. Stella overheard her and told her that she couldn't be "in love" with mommy, but Ashlyn just kept hugging me and said, "Yes, I am in love with Mommy." Ashlyn will often climb in my lap and grab my face with her hands and mimic what I often say to the kids by repeating, "You're a lucky Mommy." I definitely felt that way this morning.....

I've been hesitant to blog about my latest obsession---when I say obsession, I mean eat, drink, sleep, breathe, and do things that I haven't done since I was in high school obsessed---, preferring to keep it under cover for fear of something bad happening if I become exposed....like say, losing my kids......But it's probably better to come clean...get it out in the open and move on with my life...(as if that's possible....)

I am in LOVE with Twilight...yep, that's right people, that crazy vampire book series that was written for 13 year olds....That's me! I'm not afraid to admit it anymore. I have this total and utter THING for a fictitious vampire...I read the entire series (all 2000 + pages) back in November in ONE week...Sick, I know. I went to the midnight showing of the movie on opening night (as only an addict would do) and since then have been crushing HARD on the lead actor Robert Pattinson! I've re-read Twilight multiple times, seen the movie in the theater more times than I would care to admit, went online to read a partial draft copy of Twilight from the male character's perspective, found this crazy website called Twilightmoms.com and frequent it, well, frequently, and in a very low and desperate point of my obsession, e-mailed Oprah to ask for her help (still waiting to hear back on that one)....

I Totally Voted For The LOSER

I'll admit that I have different taste in music than most of my friends and that certainly carries over into American Idol. I'm always on the side of the loser...it ALWAYS works out that way(ask Jason about my obsession with Season 7's Michael Johns!) I am deeply affected by emotion and if someone doesn't "move" me then I really have a hard time getting behind them....The contestants on American Idol that hit all the notes (Adam L.) and have all the right moves bore me to tears...I like the people who take the risks and who sometimes fall on their faces while doing it. So in the spirit of risk-taking and raw-emotion I have to admit that I voted for Matt Giraud-repeatedly...I knew he was in trouble when I called right after the show ended and the dreaded, "Thanks for voting for contestant 6!," IMMEDIATELY came up! No BUSY signal! What? He's a goner for sure, but there's something very endearing about this bluesy piano player who secretly wants to be a rocker that gets me every time...I just FEEL for this guy even though I'm sure he's getting the boot soon...I will say if that Sanjaya, I mean, Megan chick doesn't get the boot first then I'm swearing off the Idol....FOREVER and I mean it this year! Even though I voted for Matt I will admit that Stella's fav. Kris is slowly growing on me! The judges are soooo set to have Adam and Danny in the final though that poor little Kris hardly gets the praise he deserves! I would just LOVE to hear Simon say "I really think you are a dark-horse in this competition." I know, I know, too much vested interested in a silly tv show...