Jumping up front here to explain what this is about for those confused: We're not starting to actually review Liv & Maddie too. We're just going to review one episode each of all the current Disney Shows and compare/contrast them with GMW and one another. This is the first! Every episode of this show is structured xxx-a-Rooney, which... is dumb, if I'm being gentle about it. But this was one of the higher rated episodes and the description sounded fun. Indeed, fun is right where we start. Two young male characters are destroying a card board rendition of their town, dressed as a giant robot and a dinosaur. That's awesome man, that's some shit I'd want to do in real life. Liv, the "girly" sister, and her mother join in too. It's a little over-done with the slow motion shots, but overall it's a good time. I think brevity is important in this post, nobody needs a play by play of Liv and Maddie, but first impressions are also important. So there. Also, the voice Dove Cameron uses for Liv makes it abundantly clear why they wanted Kristen Chenoweth to play her mother in Descendants. It's high pitched in a unique way, like Chenoweth's. This episode has three stories. First is Liv trying to gently reject her younger brother's friend, who evidently has a crush on her. The obvious twist is that he doesn't. There's nothing special here, but Dove Cameron is surprisingly skilled. She is carrying this show on her back. The second story is the older of the two brothers inventing fake clubs at school to take "field trips," which consist of various forms of goofing off. The dad on this show is also the basketball coach at school, so he ends up working in tandem with his son on these field trip cons. That's a great idea, it's actually a hilarious and refreshing concept for a one-off gag. Unfortunately, the actors are both average at best and the execution is unimpressive. The third story, though, and the real meat of the episode, is about Maddie, the "sporty" sister. And now we can address the most important question of this series. Dove Cameron plays both Liv and Maddie, so are they sufficiently different? Yes, 100%. The mannerisms, body language, voice, and speech patterns are all distinct. You can chalk some of that up to writing, but Cameron clearly knows what she's doing. I was expecting something like Lindsay Lohan in the Parent Trap, but this is in another universe compared to that. BIG thumbs up from me on the portrayal and characterization of Liv and Maddie. I'm curious to check out the pilot episode to see if it's something Cameron nailed right away or if she's built up to this over time. This story is about Maddie trying not to fail Home Ec. Her only chance is to win the Home Ec cooking contest against the class brown-noser, Artie. The teacher, by the way, is played by Kevin James for some reason... It's arguably a better role than any of his films in the last few years. They make a point of heavily explaining that Artie has a crush on Liv. I was convinced that Liv would somehow persuade Artie to let Maddie win the contest in a Disney-tastic expression of sisterly love, BUT THIS AIN'T THAT BULL SHIT YOU'RE USED TO! Maddie wins on her own with a fucking awesome idea because she's a strong character. The "Snack-adium" was entirely unpredictable, creative, and character-specific (because she likes sports). It's awesome. And Maddie knows it's awesome. Straight up, I liked this a lot. Maddie is a well written character that I'd like to see more of, and not just because she's good looking. Liv is probably equally compelling, but she was off to the side for this episode. The brothers are both kinda lame. The parents are lame. But I'll be very surprised if Dove Cameron doesn't have a future after this. Sabrina Carpenter is without a doubt the best actor on Disney Channel, but I'd wager that Cameron is a strong second. Christian? Don't break my heart man. Oh. This was more involved than I was expecting! I thought we'd do one post snapshotting everything! Okay then! I more or less agree with your thoughts. From the little I've seen of all these shows, I knew Liv & Maddie was one that looked a little better than the rest, and mainly because of Dove Cameron who, I agree, is great. While this was a Maddie-centric episode, I actually liked her performance as Liv a little better, as it seems to be the role that requires more acting (in that I'm sure Maddie's voice is Cameron's actual voice, and Liv's high-pitched voice is fake) and, I dunno, I actually just found Liv super endearing. Liv & Maddie were notably segregated in this one, appearing only together in the final scene, and in that scene never actually speaking to one another. While I've never seen a full episode before, I've seen beginnings and endings of a few, and I actually am not sure I'veseen much of Liv and Maddie interacting. Now, it makes sense that they'd have each character anchor a different story, but... they're twin sisters and the title characters of this show too. So, I wonder how often they interact? Is that a problematic aspect? I know with movie magic you can get people in the same scene, but there may still be awkwardness there. Chemistry is important with cast members, and I'm not sure how much chemistry Dove Cameron can have... with herself... in a scene she filmed earlier. Totally random that Kevin James is in this episode. I'll also add my props that he's a bigger guest star than GMW has ever had, and yet Liv & Maddie didn't feel the need to have the audience erupt into applause when he came out. Still, what the hell is Kevin James doing in this? Is he, like, that Artie kid's real life dad? Also, Artie sucks. Is he an every episode kind of guy? Yikes. Both the Mom AND Dad work at the school, eh? While I get that it helps them stay involved, it feels like too much. Very glad Topanga's not at JQA too as there as Riley's, like, math teacher. Both brothers sucked, particularly the older one. The dad's not great either. Mom's okay. While, yeah, I was obviously not Liv who the kid had the crush on, I kind of thought it might be the Mom. Overall, I'd give this a B-. Like you said, Cameron absolutely carries this show. There's nothing here worth watching but her (well, and Kevin James, I guess, but that's just in this episode) and it wasn't really that funny. Still, not nearly as offensive as some other Disney stuff I've seen. Am I going to tune into the show? Nah. But I wouldn't rush to change the channel after a GMW episode either. But if this is indicative of one of the best episodes of L&M, I would have to say I'd consider Girl Meets World to be the superior show. Also..... Everyone, take this Official YouTube quiz to find out if you're more like LIV or like MADDIE! I got... I got Maddie. Yeah, I had no intention of getting in depth, but was compelled after thoroughly not hating it. B- sounds good. There are plenty of GMW episodes less entertaining than this. But you're right, if one of the strongest episodes got maybe four laughs out of me... Do you think that any episode of "Dog With A Blog" is better than even Girl Meets Fish? I GUESS WE'LL FIND OUT. I got Liv... in the quiz... Based off that video it seems like her real voice is in between her two characters. And based off the credits on IMDB, they use lookalikes when Liv and Maddie are in the scene together. There was one part of that quiz where it very obviously wasn't Dove playing Maddie. Interesting. Oh, I actually have a specific Dog with a Blog episode I'd like us to do. I'll look into it. It was an episode I started watching after a GMW episode ended, and I recall being slightly curious about where they were going with it. Not enough to... not turn off the TV. But still. I'll hunt that episode down, and maybe that'll be next as long as it's not regarded as, like, a blemish on DwaB's good name! And, I should have known you'd be a Liv. Always chilling at home in a sparkly shirt with your hair all glam and curled! I wanna take a "Are you Riley or Maya quiz?" now. This is all I found when I tried to find if they had one of those. It's Rowan and Sabrina reading a scene as each other's characters. VERDICT: Sabrina could play Riley, Rowan absolutely could not play Maya. OH WAIT! Here's one with Disney Channel characters from ALL shows! You can be Liv and Maddie (again), Riley and Maya, Jessie, and Ally. They didn't even bother with anybody from Dog with a Blog or I Didn't Do It or K.C. Undercover. I'm MAYA! KAPOW! BAM! Wow, that's a fun idea for a video. I would KILL to see Rider and Ben do that. Or have Will in there for the three way swap. Rowan just has the one voice, apparently, but man, Sabrina is way too good for this channel. I got Liv again, so it's basically official at this point. The quiz reminded me how much I disliked the mocumentary segments in Liv and Maddie. It's such a lazy direction choice to have those snippets of the characters talking to the audience. For shame. At least Modern Family sometimes makes vague references to why it's all being filmed. NEXT UP! "Avery Dreams of Kissing Karl" from Season 3 of Dog with a Blog. Oh, I didn't give an MVP here: Dove Cameron, natch. I imagine she wins it every episode. The odds are in her favor, character-wise.
Candy sushi combines the best of the worlds of sushi (yum) and candy (YUM). Here's how to make the treat that will have your kids begging for more.
My step-by-step plan for throwing a Greek Mythology party! From Greek God and Goddess Costumes to destroying the Cyclops.
Don't all things begin with a desperate need to buy themed vintage stamps from an etsy shop???? How could I ever resist? :) It's taken a while to blog Charlie's ninth birthday party because I was waiting until it was featured on Hostess with the Mostess which finally posted on the same day I flew to Boston WITHOUT my laptop! They had told me it would feature at the end of the month so I was not ready or prepared at all for a mid-June feature! And of course, I had to wait an additional five days to get home from B-town to even access my images! Crazy times! :) I started planning Charlie's party back in November. The second Henry's Monster Party wrapped, my talented party-styling girlfriend, Rachel, wanted to know what was next. We asked Charlie to give us a theme to start working on -- and he said "LEGOS!!". That didn't really work for us. There are too many lego parties already out there. It might've taken a little persuasion to get him to decide that what he reeeally wanted was a chemistry party. :) Rachel runs RV Parties with her BFF and partner, Victoria. They design the most adorable printables for pretty much any party theme. You can buy the science printables from this party as well the monster printables from Henry's party -- or a variety of many other themes - HERE at their etsy shop! You'll also see lots of my photography there. I'm their favorite professional photographer. I was seriously & intensely proud of the large chalkboard that we used for our backdrop at the dessert table. I knew two things: 1., there was NO WAY that I could handwrite anything on any chalkboard and have it look adorable - not to mention, I'm way to OCD to have the font on a backdrop not completely match with the party design/font, and 2., I did NOT want to buy a new, giant chalkboard and then have no idea what to do with it when the party wrapped. But, thats why engineering prints from Staples are the greatest thing in the whole wide world. Yes. You heard me. The greatest. If you need something printed in a very large size (this one was 36x48) but don't want to pay your child's college tuition for it - and it happens to be a black and white image - then head to Staples. I had Rachel design a large print to look like a fake chalkboard and had it printed for $6. Then I tacked it to a corkboard that I already had hanging over my desk in my office. Perfect. We had so many amazing treats on our dessert table! Miss Lulu's Sweet Treats sent us the cake pops atoms on a stick. They are the best cake pops I've ever had in my entire life. No joke. I *might* have lied to a couple of the children who asked if they could have one and said they were for display only so there'd be a few leftover. And the chocolate-dipped Oreo Molecules were her idea and I looove how creative and perfectly themed they are! And the amazing Jessica of J&J Bakeshop - local here in VA - provided us with the perfect cookies decorated to look like the element of Charlie!! She is so talented, y'all. I ordered specialty cookies from her for Christmas gifts last year and I encourage you all to find a reason to need cookies just to see what she can do! And I made the cupcakes because I'm a cupcake snob now and can only eat the cake that my BFF, Mandie, makes or the cake my BFF, Mandie, taught me how to make. I was also really proud of my party favor idea! Last summer, I taught Charlie the Mentos + Diet Soda reaction - read about it here - (so many links in this post!!). He loved it so much that I figured it should either be an experiment at the party or the favor! Since it's pretty messy and doesn't take very long to react, I figured, favor it is! I think it's always best to send the messy stuff home to the parents. Just like it's always best to serve the guests all the sugar RIGHT before the end of the party. :) Did you know that lab coats are RIDICULOUSLY expensive?? And that even the costume ones for kids to play doctor and dress up with on Halloween don't even dip below $10 each?? As much as I wanted real lab coats that I'd have embroidered with guest names for the party, that's just plain insane and I could not encourage the market to continue to charge those prices! Harumph!! Instead, I bought the 5-pack of two-sizes-too-large white undershirt tees from Target and cut them up the middle! Voila! Lab coats on the cheap! I did splurge on party color lab goggles for about $3 each. Totally worth it. So cute. And Charlie's adorable science shirt was a custom design by Ella Mella who rocks my world with their awesome kid's fashions. And Henry's shirt was sent to us from Periodically Inspired! I just love how she smooshed periodic table elements together to form geeky-chic words. Henry's my precious little GeNiUS!! And a bit of a camera ham, too! Once the house was decorated and the kids dressed, it was time to paaaaartay! An amazing woman, Calsin, runs a business of bringing science, technology, engineering and mathemathics to parties and playdates and schools, oh my! She. Is. Awesome. She told me that if she didn't have her business, she'd set up a lab in her garage and experiment anyway! I loved it. That's how I feel about my photography. If there wasn't work, there'd STILL be pictures. Her business, STEM-KIDS, is such a great concept. Learning can be a BLAST (literally!) and parties don't have to lack brain power, either! Calsin can tailor the experiments for any party. I didn't want the party to cross sciences (OCD, much?) so everything had to stay in a "chemistry" theme. Duh. And, the experiments also needed to entertain eight very active nine year olds. Calsin knew just what to do -- MESSY, hands-on chemical reactions that would result in slime, exploding "elephant toothpaste" and a giant bowl full of smoky, bubbly dry ice! EXPERIMENT #1: SLIME The kids loved this. Calsin set up a table full of the necessary ingredients and as the kids started to mix everything together, it started forming ooey-gooey slime! After they finished squishing it in their fingers, we packed up their custom-colored slime in take home bags! EXPERIMENT #2: ELEPHANT TOOTHPASTE Whats better than seeing foamy goo grow and grow and grow, so much so that it spills up and out of a bottle and into a tray for you to play with it!? NOTHING! Birthday boy was the first one to pour in the special ingredient to make the chemical reaction activate! He was SO excited!! And, um, he's also incredibly cute. EXPERIMENT #3: SUBLIMATION DEMONSTRATION I'm a creative. I photograph things. I can write fairly well. And I daydream great things. I enjoy and am awed by science but, I am no scientist. So, I have to admit that when Calsin said we'd do a "sublimation demonstration", I just blindly nodded my head like I had a clue what she was talking about. Google and Wikipedia say that sublimation is "the transition of a substance directly from the solid to the gas phase without passing through an intermediate liquid phase." So, why the dry ice turned into a smoky gas without any water sneaking in between those phases, all makes sense now. (Can you tell I was concentrating on proper exposure and focus while she was explaining all of this to the kiddos???) Oy. Adding in some dish washing liquid will create a giant bubble that will enclose the smoke inside of it and when it pops, the smoke explodes out! It's really fun and the kids obviously LOVED getting the chance to be the one to pop the bubble! And then it was time to blow out the candles and for me to cry the weepy mama-cry because my baaaaaaby is NINE!!! See the party with all our vendor info plus more of my wit and charm in describing the details (and more pictures!!) on the fabulous and well-followed Hostess with the Mostess blog HERE.
Time seems to be flying by so quickly. Boogs recently turned 9-years-old. Where have the years gone? Boogs asked for a Kirby birthday party this year. He always has a few ideas about what should happen at his birthday parties. This year, he asked for a bouncy house, a scavenger hunt, a Kirby Pinata, and Pin the Hammer on King Dedede. Every year I make Boogs a birthday shirt with his age on it. Kirby was very easy to freezer stencil on a shirt. (HERE is a quick tutorial on freezer stenciling) Boogs thought his birthday shirt was awesome! Usually, I make the pinatas for Boogs' birthdays but I did not feel like dealing with the mess this year. So I went searching for a pinata I could use for Kirby. I found this: ... a pink princess pinata. Boogs was not impressed when I brought it home. It was a nice shade of pink and a perfect circle. I bought a roll of pink streamers and cut up a bit of colored paper to turn this into a perfect Kirby pinata. Boogs liked it and so did the other kids. Unfortunately, there was a light rainy drizzle during quite a bit of the party. We had to smash the pinata in the garage. The kids did not seem to mind. There was plenty of loot to go around. The tables in the background of the picture of Boogs hitting the pinata, show our craft tables. We had pink shirts and fabric paint out on the tables so the kids could make their own Kirby face shirts. I was surprised how much they enjoyed it. One kiddo even wore his hand painted Kirby shirt to school this week. I forgot to take pictures of them working on their shirts. Boogs helped me figure out how to make Pin the Hammer on King Dedede. It was fun watching the kiddos try to place the hammer in King Dedede's hand. We play this classic party game every year with our different themes. I spent quite a bit of time drawing Kirby faces on things for the party. I made these balloons for the kids to play balloon ping pong. Boogs asked if everyone could have their own balloon to hit instead of sharing with someone else. The kids ended up playing a sort of paddle ball with the balloons. It was a good thing I made extras because several balloons went over the fence. This simple game kept them entertained for a long time. Luckily, we had a break in the drizzle and they stayed dry during this game. Boogs asked for a scavenger hunt game. In the Kirby games, Kirby has to collect things like stars and rings. So, I grabbed an old shape puzzle and individually wrapped some wooden shapes in pink tissue paper. My plan was for the kids to find each one, feel the shape through the numbered baggie, and use their Kirby notepads to write down their guesses for each shape. I did not hide them before the party because of the rain. Later, we ran out of time. I ended up putting the homemade Kirby notepads in each kiddos pinata favor bag. The few kiddos who left late, had a chance to guess each shape. They really thought it was fun. If you saw my post about Boogs' Skylander party last year, you might recognize these cans. I made them for the "Golden Can Shoot". We have played with them off and on during the past year. Last week, I took them out of the garage and taped Kirby villains onto them. One of Boogs' favorite Kirby games is Kirby Epic Yarn. We had to have something to go with that game. I wrapped a pink yarn ball around a small bouncy ball and tied it to a baseball hat. We set the cans up in the backyard in two rows and let the kiddos take turns trying to knock them down without using their hands or dragging the yarn ball on the ground. It was harder than it looked. It was so much fun to see the kids try to line up the yarn ball. It kept swinging in crazy directions. Everyone else cheered from the porch while they waited their turn. Even some of the moms tried it out. We kept having to dry out the bouncy house with towels because it was a bit dangerous with all those kids in there when it was wet. This is the only picture I took inside the bouncy house. Boogs ran in and jumped in it before his guests showed up. We love having bouncy houses at our parties. They always get a ton of use. I freely admit that I am the world's worst baker. This is my attempt at a double layer strawberry Kirby cake. At least it tasted delicious. After the party, Boogs thanked me for making it so much fun. He said he knew it was a lot of work to get ready and he was very happy about how it all turned out. He was glad his friends came over to help him celebrate turning 9. I love my little boy so much. I can't believe that he will be in the double digits next year. It makes me a little sad. His father and I truly enjoy what a wonderful, goofy, sweet, funny, and kind little boy he is. Of course, I had to make Boogs a Kirby lunch during his birthday week. I saw Anna the Red's lunch and had to copy her ham and cheese Kirby. This post is linked to:
Yoga - Create your own full color stick figure personalized kids party invitations from our Head and Body selections. Party Themes.
For Maddie’s 9th birthday, she decided she wanted a candy party. And so the wheels were set in motion for a Maddie-licious party.First thing was to get the invitation out. We decided to make …
A cake for my daughter’s birthday party. Plus some pictures of the real climbing wall; I’ve pixellated the birthday girl’s face for her privacy!
Planning a kids' party? Need inspiration? How about a Minecraft-themed party? I've pulled together lots of fun ideas for Minecraft fans to help you plan the perfect event. Let's party!
Don't fret over the next sleepover! Check out our suggestiosn for Great Slumber Party Games For Girls! Your gang will have a blast!
Perfect for sleepover parties- here is a free printable list of 50 Would You Rather questions for tweens!
Our 4-year-old has been invited to some pretty extravagant birthday parties, with live entertainment, bouncy houses galore, the run of a "fa...
Do you want to make your tween's birthday special? From video games to Karaoke, here are 12 fun and creative birthday party games for tweens.
Two red pool noodles... Electrical tape... Printed TNT labels... Two sets of pool noodle TNT sticks to decorate the mantle for the M...
Percy Jackson Shield This shield is from the Percy Jackson movie. Thie birthday boy doesn't like cake, so the base is a 16"...
A 10th birthday is best with friends, cake and of course GAMES! Here are my favorite Birthday Party Games for 10-Year-Olds!
This is an anime themed birthday party for my daughter Claire when she turned thirteen years old.
One of the hardest parts about planning a party for littles can be the question, "what in the world are we going to do to entertain these kids in our house?!" Raise your hand if this thought has kept you up at night or has been the main reason you did not host a party in your home
Everyone gets into eyeshadow ruts where they don't use all their colors. But Reddit just found the perfect new app to make sure all your shades get some much-needed shine.
Best collection of Fortnite printables for your next birthday party. These Fortnite party printables will help you style your party quickly and easily.
Spa Party: The perfect at-home spa birthday party with free printables and party games and ideas.
data:blog.metaDescription
When is the last time you have hosted a sleepover for tween girls? You can be guaranteed that there won't be much sleep and there will be lots of giggling. Most of the time tweens can keep themselves entertained and don't need anything more than some snacks, maybe a movies and lots of time to
This Just Add Magic Cake will have you wondering WITCH flavor is your favorite! Olivia Sanabia joins Rosanna Pansino on Nerdy Nummies to make a 3 layer cake recipe: Strawberry, Blueberry, and Pistachio cakes stack up to be a fantastic combination of flavors. Makes 2 10-inch cakes of each flavor Things you'll need Ingredients Blueberry Cake 1 cup frozen blueberries ¼ cup sugar ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature ¼ cup shortening 1 cup sugar 2 eggs at room temperature 1 ½ cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder Pinch of salt ¼ cup milk ¼ cup buttermilk ¼ teaspoon blueberry extract 2 drops fluorescent purple coloring Pistachio Cake 1 cup unsalted shelled pistachios 1 cup all purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt ½ cup whole milk ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract 4 drops mint green color ½ cup unsalted butter, softened 2 tablespoons pistachio paste 1 cup sugar 3 large eggs Strawberry Cake 2 eggs ¾ cups strawberry puree ½ teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon strawberry extract 1 ½ cups all purpose flour ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons sugar 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons oil ¼ cup butter at room temperature Equipment 3 large mixing bowls 3 medium mixing bowls Hand mixer with attachments Rubber spatula Whisk (3) 10 inch cake pans, sprayed with liners 3 cake boards Decorating bags (with white, light pink, light green and light purple buttercream) Small offset spatula Large spatula Cake stand Let's get started! Blueberry Cake Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook frozen blueberries and ¼ cup sugar on low until a thick jam forms. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix until well combined. Mix in blueberry extract. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, then the milks, 1/3 of dry, mixing well between each addition. Mix in the blueberry jam and then the remaining 1/3 of dry ingredients. Pour batter into a lined cake pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Pistachio Cake Use a food processor to pulse pistachios until finely ground. Add flour, baking powder and salt and then pulse briefly. In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and pistachio paste until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating in between and then mix in vanilla extract. Reduce speed to low to add the pistachio mixture and milk mixtures alternately in batches. Spread batter evenly into a lined 10 inch round cake pan and bake at 350ºF for 40 minutes. Strawberry Cake In a medium bowl mix eggs, puree and extracts until well combined. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add butter and oil and mix until it becomes pebbly. Pour in half of the wet ingredients and beat well. Add the rest of the wet ingredients in two parts, beating well between each addition. Pour batter into a lined 10 inch round cake pan and bake at 350ºF for 35 to 45 minutes. Time to decorate! Spread a thin layer of green frosting on top of the pistachio cake and then place the strawberry cake on top. Frost the top of the strawberry cake pink and then place the blueberry cake on top. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes. Pipe two rows of green frosting on the bottom of the cake and then pink frosting in the middle. Finish the top of the cake off with blue frosting and then smooth with an offset spatula. Use the spatula to create texture around and on top of the cake (PICTURE at 10:08). Sprinkle some silver sugar pearls on top. TaDa! Just Add Magic Cake is a colorful blend of flavors that will cast a delicious spell over your party! Rosanna Pansino made the 3-layer Last Ditch Cake from the Amazon series 'Just Add Magic.'
