X-Plaining X-Factor

So Matt and I have become semi-avid fans of X-Factor. This is basically as close as the UK gets to American Idol. In fact, X-Factor is also the brain child of Simon Cowell, who is also a judge on this show. For those who might know, Leona Lewis was a previous X-Factor winner (she's the only one who's made it to the states)

But there are some key differences between the two shows, in X-Factor the contestants are divided up into four categories: Groups, Boys, Girls and over 25's. Together the judges narrow down the contestants and then the producers assign them a category to mentor. The judges pick the final three contestants in each category and then guide them through the live shows. They pick their songs and help them with their images and performances.

In the live performances, each act is voted on by the public (except they charge here, which is lame). The bottom two acts perform a song and the judges decide who will stay and who will go. Or if it's deadlocked, then it goes to who had the least amount of votes.

So it's kind of exciting to watch and see what happens. However, there is a particular group that is a complete joke. No one could believe that Louis Walsh (the groups judges) put them through. And what's worse, they have only landed in the bottom two once. And when Simon, who has hated this group since the beginning had a chance to send them home (and save a great performer) he didn't and sent it to the public vote. So I'm not sure which is worse, the fact that John and Edward (identical twins) had more votes than Lucie, or that Simon didn't send them home.

Of course he was being strategic about it, there's no way John and Edward (or Jedward as they're known here) will win, and Simon still has 3 acts in, so he's hedging his bets. By getting rid of Lucie, it makes it so there's only one girl left (all of Simon's acts are boys).

So to give you an idea, here's some YouTube clips of Jedward, as well as Lucie.



Louis always picks songs that they don't really have to sing. Past songs have been: Oops I did it again (with red vinyl suits), We Will Rock You, and Rock DJ (a Robbie Williams song).

And here's who went home instead:



It's kind of a long clip, so you can just watch some of it to get an idea.

But a travesty, isn't it? The theme last week was movie night, which is why the songs are from movies.

And just for fun, here are my two favorites (now that Lucie is gone).

Olly (again a long clip, you can watch just a portion to get an idea):



And Joe (I call him 'Little Boy Joe'):



So there you have it. On Saturday and Sunday nights, this is where you'll find us. At home, watching the X-Factor.

Any questions? Comments?

Happy Halloween!

Another Halloween has come and gone. Sometimes I miss the days of childhood when I'd ponder so seriously what I would be dressing up as for that magical night. It wasn't so much about the candy (though that was always good) it was more about the fact that Halloween night was a night of possibilities. Possibly you'd see a ghost (a real one), possibly you'd score a 'big' candy bar, possibly you'd have such a great costume, that everyone who saw you would compliment you on it. Possibly something exciting would happen. After all, if exciting things were going to happen, it makes sense that it would happen on Halloween night.

Since becoming an adult, I have to admit I've lost a little bit of that sense of anticipation for Halloween. Despite that, it's still a great holiday and I'm determined to celebrate it with my family, even though London (and the UK in general) don't exactly have the same traditions as the US.

Last year, when I was pregnant with Amelia, I had so much fun looking at various costumes for kids online. I couldn't wait for the next year when I got to dress up my child in some clever costume. If Amelia had been a boy, she would've been Superman, no question. Since I didn't have a definite costume for a daughter in mind, I spent several months wondering what would I choose to dress Amelia as (I say 'I' and not 'we' because my loving husband let me have this one, he didn't interfere at all...then again, he never really celebrated Halloween in Oz). I was disappointed in the selection of costumes that the UK had to offer, and disappointed at how expensive costumes were to order online.

Luckily, my sister saved the day, she sent us a great costume (that I picked out) from the states.

Now we had a costume, I was ready to show off my little tiger cub at our ward Halloween party. Surely there was going to be one. There are so many Americans in our ward, I didn't even consider the possibility that there wouldn't be some sort of Halloween party. Well there wasn't one. Which I still think is crazy.

So I decided we'd go trick or treating with some friends. Unfortunately stake conference (the night session) was scheduled for that night so Matt couldn't come with us, (he had to teach a priesthood seminar). So it was mostly mums and kids. I didn't plan on getting any candy for Amelia (there's always next year to steal...I mean share her candy), but it was fun to walk around with the other moms and enjoy the night.

Luckily where we live has a high American population, so there were lots of places to go and the streets were filled with trick or treaters.

Amelia looked so cute and had lots of oohs and aahs from various people, I think she was a little startled by all the attention because she started to cry after the fourth person peaked their head in and looked at her. Ah well, it's good for her, we figure it's preparation for Grandpa Ngai and Uncle Humphrey's visit in a couple of weeks.

All in all, Halloween was a great success. Amelia and I got some good exercise, had a fun time with friends, and it did feel like Halloween. I'm happy to report that the night didn't disappoint.

Sleeping beauty?

How Amelia naps (& sleeps in the night). (Apologies for the picture quality, we would appreciate a new video camera....thanks Santa).

The Great Debate

There is a very big debate in our house. One that has been going on since before Matt and I were married. One that might not ever come to a satisfactory conclusion. Unfortunately, due to the fact that Matt and I are both competitive, and very patriotic, Amelia is going to have no choice but to do just that, which is to make a choice. And this choice she's going to have to make will help determine whether she's more American or Aussie.

What is this choice you ask?

It's whether or not she'll prefer peanut butter or vegemite on her morning toast. Now, if you're a smart person, there is no debate. Peanut butter wins out every time. Unless you're one of the crazy few, who think that vegemite (which is yeast...ick) is the best spread around.

Matt is convinced she'll be a huge vegemite fan, and I'm guessing Grandpa K will actually pull for her to like it also. But I'm equally as determined that my daughter, though she's not actually been to America (yet...only 44 days left) will love PB&J's. And this is more than just her preference for peanuts or yeast, this decision will be the first step on the way to determining whether she'll prefer Australia or America, and this journey will only end when she decides which national team she'll play for when she becomes a world class soccer player.

Of course, overall we're both fine with whatever she decides, but we do each secretly wish she would choose our country.

Although, with our luck, she'll probably prefer marmalade or something very British.

A day in a life...

Amelia in the mornings.



Amelia during the day.

Rock 'n' Roll!

Amelia chilling out and her latest trick.

Because I'm So Generous.

Hello faithful reader(s). Today I'm going to give you a gift. Well, two gifts actually. If you remember a few months ago, I introduced you to the delightful world of CakeWrecks.

Now I'm going to introduce you to two other websites that can help whittle down any long hours you might have to endure in the office, or if you want to just kill time.

The first one is for all the mormon girls out there. It's a parody blog based on the 'perfect mormon house wife. One whose life is perfect and she's just a teensy bit shallow, while pretending not to be. It's hilarious. Start at the beginning. It's awesome. The site is called Seriously, so blessed! It's a great site, and I think many of my sisters will appreciate it.

The second site I'm going to introduce you to, is one where if you have any kind of trivia knowledge about anything, then this site is for you. Matt and I discovered this site before we were married and we often spend some of our evenings challenging ourselves on one, two or three of the many quizzes. It's called Sporcle.

So go, enjoy. Spend many an hour laughing and searching your brain for useless knowledge you knew you'd need some day.

You're welcome.

P.S. For those of you who mainly visit this blog for videos of Amelia. Check back soon, we've got a couple of really cute ones we're going to upload in the next day or two.