Los Boyos visit the Fire Station

A few weekends ago our local fire station held an open house. The boys got to go climb all over the trucks, push buttons in the trucks, see the sleeping quarters, wear fire suits, it was great fun.

Oliver in the fire suit- so disastrous.

He was so tiny in that thing. The poor fire fighter said "Just don't touch any buttons". Really?! Good luck with that pal.

Oh brother! Look out town!

Tomas in the get-up. So heavy! Oh, and the hubby and some strange woman in the background. Personally, I think Cory is way cuter.

XoXo,

J.Danger

It's Halloween Time!

Today we took Los Boyos over to the Pumpkin City Pumpkin Patch to grab their soon to be Jack O' Lanterns. Fun was had by all on yet another successful Danger Family Funday.





Tomas in the Tea Cup Squashers. Intense.


SUCH an improvement from last years Pony ride disaster.




Tomas and his stallion o' Halloween spirit.





Oliver? Are you in there? It's all a blur of orange....






I swear, it was funny while taking the picture. But now?






Oliver and his cherry red stud mobile. Oh yes.

But, at the end of the day, despite all their efforts, they still left together.

XOXO,

J.Danger

Because FREE is better than CHEAP.

Trish, over at Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? is having another giveaway!  She has a copy of The Likeness up for grabs.  Go check it out-

Hey Lady!  Whatcha' Readin'?

I am off being exceptionally nerdy today, walking around like a winner.

XOXO,

J.Danger

You talkin' trash?!

So I swear to you that I am not a crunchy granola-y dirty liberal (a.k.a Hippie).  But I do have children, whom I do not want to force to live in a Mad Max-esque landscape when I die because we as a generation were lazy and irresponsible. So- we need to realize that we need to start making changes now.

Plus- even if you don't love the environment, who doesn't love money?! Right?!  Well guess what- when you consume less, you spend less!

Consume Less, Think More….ways to make a difference…In the Kitchen!

• Recycle everything you can. Recycling an aluminum can takes 96% less energy than creating a new one. Check your city’s website for what can be recycled curbside. It is really not that difficult.  If you can't do it curbside, most grocery stores have recycling centers.  And guess what- THEY PAY YOU. Win win folks.

• Eliminate or cut down on your use of foil, ziplock bags and plastic wrap by buying containers with sealable lids & pyrex or ceramic that come with glass tops instead of using tin foil.  Try these or - Reusable Mesh Bags. 
• Use recycled paper towels. Americans send 3000 tons of paper towels to landfills each day. The same goes for the paper you use on that cute little bum o' yours-  Trader Joes' has particularly inexpensive ones every day.
• Use hand towels to clean dishes and the kitchen instead of disposable sponges! Or if you just can't "sink" to that level (ha!) wash the sponges that you do use- you can throw them in the dishwasher, or in the laundry.  Then , we they are screaming to be put to rest- use them to scrub the toilets you flushed all that recycled T.P. down.  Bravo!  Maybe try these.
• Change to cloth napkins. On average, a person uses about 2200 paper napkins a year. If everyone used one less each day, landfills would have 1 billion pounds less paper a year. Plus, you can really make a statement in your kitchen ladies! Like here, here, or here.
  
• Buy recycled paper cups, plates, cups. It takes 70 to 90% less energy to make recycled paper and it prevents the loss of forests worldwide. This is one we can all make a difference as we are all on the go and use disposables a lot! Or you could just NOT use them...
• Buy organic. Organic soils capture and store CO2 at much higher levels than the soils from conventional farms. Produce most affected by pesticides are peaches, apples, peppers, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, celery, grapes and pears.  You do not have to shop at fancy markets to buy organic.  Look in the mainstream supermarkets too- anything grown organically will have their number on the sticker coded with a 5 digit number beginning with a 5.  Read this- 
• Buy local. The average meal in the US travels 1200 miles from the farm to your plate.(Gross!)  Challenge yourself to buy only food produced within a 100 mile radius of your home.  Try your local farmers market, or produce co-ops.  They are almost always cheaper, and you are supporting your neighbor. Like this- 
• Buy fresh instead of frozen. Frozen food uses 10 times more energy to produce, and it kinda tastes gross. 
• Buy and use cloth grocery bags. Americans toss about 100 billion polyethylene plastic bags a year, and fewer than 1% of them are recycled. They can take up to 1000 years to biodegrade in landfills that emit harmful greenhouse gases.  This has got to be the easiest thing to do, as it is now everywhere!  Plus, again, they pay you.  Most of the large supermarkets offer a bag discount when you use your own bags.  Hello?!  Free money. Try these- 
• Buy the product with the least amount of packaging; Buy in bulk.  Don't have a big enough family for wholesale?  Not enough storage to keep it?  Spilt it up with a friend or two.  It is way cheaper. 
• Skip red meat once a week. If you alone gave it up once every 7 days, you would save the 840 gallons of fresh water it takes to produce a single serving.  Just one.  Besides, heart attacks are EXPENSIVE.  See?  Saving money folks.
• Only run a full dishwasher. Don’t pre-rinse dishes for your dishwasher. Save 6500 gallons of water and 100 lbs of CO2a year. Use the shortest cycle you can manage.
• If buying new appliances, buy only Energy Star.  AND!  You get money back!  Hello refund!
• Did you notice something here folks?  Every link I gave you is one that is off the consumer grid! By handmade, re-used, you know- the better way.  You save money, plus you support someone who is actually NOT a gigantic corporate powerhouse.  Etsy, Ebay, Amazon, Craig's List, and there are thousands of little websites all over the net...

You can thank me when you are rolling in the dough!  And your kids can thank my kids for having such awesome parents.  I know, its rough.

XOXO,

J.Danger

Mid Terms and Hormones-

You would think that right smack in the middle of midterms, and in the throws of all things emotional, the hormone problem would be mine right now- but it is not.  Our poor son is caught in the clutches of pre-pubescent glory, and my dear husband and I are trying our best to try and figure it out.  Here's hoping we don't go crazy...or turn into fanatic conservatives that lock their children in attics until they are 40.  Although....

This week is the beginning of midterms.  I completed one today, I have one in class essay tomorrow, a conference wed- Friday, and two large papers due next week.  No- 3 large ones, and one measly little tag along.  So far so good though.  I really need to keep my GPA high right now, so I am leaving no room for error.

So that's that-  not much on the Danger Family Ranch.  We are looking forward to Halloween and just spending some down time together.  Yesterday we spent the afternoon at Disneyland so that the boys could see all the decorations and Tom could see the Haunted Mansion.  We even got to see the evening parade.  Oliver almost pee'd his (big boy!) pants when he saw Mickey, which would have sucked because he was on my shoulders.  But fun was had by all on yet another successful Danger Family Funday.

Hope all is well with you and yours-

XOXO,

J.Danger

P.s. Today is the cutoff for voter registration-  are you registered?  You better be......or else....

Who is with me?

Dear Red States:

If you somehow manage to steal this election too we've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware, that includes California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave
states. We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood.
We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.
We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss.
We get 85% of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama.
We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22% lower than the
Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms.

Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq , and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80% of the country's fresh water, more than 90% of the pineapple and lettuce, 92% of the nation's fresh fruit, 95% of America's quality wines, 90% of all cheese, 90% of the high tech industry, 90% of the corn and soybeans (thanks Iowa!), most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.

With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88% of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92% of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100% of the tornadoes, 90% of the hurricanes, 99% of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100% of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.
We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

Additionally, 38% of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62% believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the war, the death penalty or gun laws, 44% say that evolution is only a theory, 53% that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61% of you crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.

Finally, we're taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico

Peace out,
--Blue States

I told you so-

I am so proud of my girl!

Librarians and nerds alike unite!

I loved her from the start and I am so glad that she won.  Plus- she used sustainable fabric on more than 60% of her pieces, so she is a-ok in my book.  And she looks cute on a tandem bike with Tim Gunn. With a bell!

 Although, I must admit that try as I may, I cannot truly escape my 50's fashion roots.  I loved Kenley's final collection, and would have worn most anything in there (sans the horrible floral 80's poof sleeve dress, yuck!).  But, as much as I liked her clothes, homegirls a bitch.  And if she is this attitudey with this little fame, then imagine how worse it would get as her head span increases!  I mean, it takes a lot of work to make Tim Gunn turn on you!

So, thank god for Pushing Daisies and Netflix, because now there is nothing else on....

T.V., T.V. why have you forsaken me?

xoxo-

J.Danger

The closest I get to drunk dialing...

I will regret this in the morning.  I will, and I know this now.

Midterms start for me next week.  This saturday is my GRE Literature test.  You know, the test in which I need to know oh....EVERYTHING EVER WRITTEN of ANY significance.  That's the one. I had so much fun this weekend with Aunt Susan down, and Saturday with Tomas, and Sunday with the madre, but alas my brain is lacking in the "know everything about everything" department come today.   And leave it to me to plan one of the two most significant tests of my academic career (which lets face, IS my career) the same damn week as midterms.  I mean come on!

Oh- and I just completed a deadline for one of my two research gigs. Kind of got a job from home (yay holiday money!)...oh yes, then there is also the family, with those kids, and that husband, oh and that house....with all that laundry.....

But what can you do right....beats being bored and under stimulated. Right?

Someone tell me I am right...

xoxo-

J.Danger

This Bitch is BROKE!

My dear friend Cassey, aka Mama Cass, is broke. But she is also smart, and she is sooooo dang talented! So- she made a halloween make-up video and entered into a contest over at www.beautychoice.com so that she can win $500 for her adorable little kiddo, whom I dearly love, Cash.

So- go vote for her. Plus, here's the kicker, you don't have to feel bad for voting for her just because I told you to. Trust me, hers really is the best one up.

Here's a picture of what she did!  Oh yeah, and her....

So go vote- get to it!

www.beautychoice.com

Vote for Miss Cassey Cakes!

I promise Cash will all write you thank you cards!

xoxo
Mama Danger

The food you eat-

I don't want to get too political on this site, most of you know how I feel about most things. So instead, I posted this hysterical video that I stole from my friend Jamie!

It's just for the better.

Please excuse the smell...

Our house smelled funny this weekend.  All weekend.

Saturday afternoon it was raining, so everything was locked up and we were all inside.  Which was nice.  Tomas and I played Scrabble, the boys played the piano, I got some work done, and Cory got to hang out with his hetero-life partner (the other one, not me...figure that one out)

But then there was Sunday......

This is what my dear husband looked like on Sunday-

(not my actual dear husband, THANK GOD)

And this is what my sweet little baby boy looked like towards the end of the night...

Why?  Because of this- this god forsaken little gem of a germ-

The Danger Family Funday tradition home wrecker.   No, it is not your run of the mill floozy home wrecker, but alas it is...the influenza.

So we slept it out, sweated it out, and did what we generally do here at the Danger homestead- try to heal at home, and complain a lot.  There were tears, (mostly my own), funny smells, complaints, groans, the usual....

Oh- and lots of nose picking on Oliver's part, which for the most part I let slide because he was not well.

It was delightful....

Because my sister-in-law called

Ok.  So I get it.  In the past week, I have had three different people ask me when I am going to put up all those pictures that I "promised".  Geesh- who knew people still take me at my word! 

So, because I am a lazy, insolent, bon-bon hoarding sloth, and I obviously have nothing else to do all day long, (but mostly because I love my family and love looking at my kiddos, which by default means that YOU must too) I am now officially posting all the damn pictures!

There was a girl over there by Goofy's house that he was just dying to impress.  I think it went well.

Disneyland was a surprise.  Don't you think he looks surprised?!

Oliver was not only surprised, but very very excited.

If ever there is another war (!) I would feel pretty safe with these men.

Ok boys-

What's with the rat faces?  Ahhhh masta Splinter.

Oliver was SO stoked on meeting Mickey that he almost cried.  He got to shake his hand, and he still tells EVERYONE he meets- "Mickey ah shaka' my handa".  He's so proud. (please excuse my gross face- it was SOOOOO hot, it melted off right before this picture! Convenient, I know.)

He was thiiiiiisssss close.

Never fails to stop the tears.  Thank you Mr. Carousel Inventor.  Thank you.

B-E-A-T.

And there you have it.  Loads of Danger Family Fundays.

xoxo-

Mama Danger