Eric Dane
Hope your holiday weekend was a good one, mamas! Here’s the latest installment of “Good Gossip” — a special guilt-free gossip column found only on nwaMotherlode.com. We filter out all the nasty rumors moms always warn their kids not to spread around, leaving you with only the good stuff on movie stars, celebrities, famous athletes and other names in the news. Enjoy.
There’s an adorable picture of McSteamy (Mark Sloan on Grey’s Anatomy) in the latest issue of People magazine. Actor Eric Dane is pictured with his 14-month-old daughter Billie in Beverly Hills this month. “I like watching her laugh,” says Eric. “She owns me.” Awwwwww.
Kim Kardashian recently got engaged to NBA player Kris Humphries. To pop the question, Kris spelled out the words “Will you marry me?” in red rose petals on a white rug in Kim’s bedroom. There were no cameras present for the proposal. Kris said he wanted it to be private and at home. The whole Kardashian family wore fake glowing engagement rings during a celebratory dinner after the proposal. The real engagement ring is a 16-carat emerald cut diamond with 2-carat trapezoid diamonds on either side. Check out the latest issue of People magazine to see a photo of the HUGE rock.
Isla Fisher
Celebrity parents including Tina Fey, Isla Fisher and Rainn Wilson recently recommended some of their favorite books to read to their kids. Tina Fey is reading the Little House on the Prairie books to her daughter and a picture book called Marveltown, by Bruce McCall. Isla Fisher said she loves all the Dr. Seuss books but her overall favorite is Slinky Malinki by Lynley Dodd. It’s about a cat who pilfers everything in town. And Rainn Wilson said he thinks it’s important to read the books you loved as a kid, so he has started reading The Hobbit to his son.
James Franco, who recently starred in the movie 127 Hours, just graduated from New York University with a master’s degree in film. Franco has also written a book, been nominated for an Academy Award, exhibited his artwork and taught college courses. He is currently working on a Ph.D. at Yale. And all the mamas said… “Wow.”
Mary Tyler Moore is recovering nicely after undergoing surgery to remove a benign tumor from the lining around her brain. Moore is 74.
Blake and Miranda
One wedding guest called it “probably the most fun wedding I’ve been to” after partying with Blake Shelton and his bride Miranda Lambert on May 14th. Lambert wore her mother’s wedding dress, and all the guests received mason jars full of sangria before the ceremony. After the kiss, the couple toasted with their own mason jars. At the reception, quesadillas with deer meat (which the bride hunted) were served and then Lambert, Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson all sang karaoke.
Mike Myers, 48, and wife Kelly Tisdale, 34, are expecting a baby. The couple said they are overjoyed.
Speaking of funny men, actor Will Ferrell will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor this October. It is the nation’s top humor prize. Other recipients include Steve Martin, Bob Newhart and Whoopi Goldberg.
Sources: People magazine, May 30, 2011 issue; People magazine, June 6, 2011 issue
Good Gossip is a bi-weekly feature sponsored by RingO’s Chicken Rings, which is a USDA Child Nutrition Certified food. RingO’s (original flavor) have only 3 grams of fat per serving and NO trans fatty acids. Click here to read more nutritional info about RingO’s. Click here to see what parents are saying about the product on Facebook!
news stories — what can happen when somebody behind the wheel sends a quick text message that he or she thinks is “no big deal.”
Ashley D. Miller, 18, (far right) veered into oncoming traffic and hit another car head-on while she was texting. She and the other driver, a 40-year-old mother of 1, were killed instantly.
Dana Trammell, 17, (right) was texting someone on her way to her first day of school of senior year when she crashed and was thrown from her vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
My favorite childhood toy was my Creepy Crawler machine, made by Mattel. Every kid on my block had one. My grandmother bought me one when I was 5-years-old, before I ever started school. It was tremendous fun because you could use it to make all sorts of plastic toys. (They were sort of like the jiggley plastic worms that your father takes fishing.) It was the coolest toy ever made.
burner. You then plunged the fiery metal form into a small plastic tray filled with water. As the steam rose toward the ceiling, it made the same sizzling sound as when a blacksmith dips a molten horseshoe into a watering trough.
God loves you with an abiding and everlasting love. Will you choose to love God this week and to show it by the way you live? He’s worthy of the risk.
gas while he is snoring, which makes me feel like I’m living in some kind of fraternity house where good manners get dropped at the door.
Gwen Rockwood is a mom to three great kids, wife to one cool guy, a newspaper columnist and
25 Manners Every Kid Should Know By Age 9, from Parents.com
Eye Treatment:
the arts. This week’s giveaway will give one Motherlode reader the opportunity to get her child started on that journey, with a $200 gift certificate which can be used to pay for private lessons, workshops, classes or a Kindermusik course at 
One of the things that jumped out at us during our visit at MDA was how very careful they are to protect the learning atmosphere in the studio. They have a strict dress code in place as well as a policy that allows for absolutely zero bad language, teasing, etc. If you want your kids learning in a place with solid values, this is it.
lessons last July with Mr. Corey for guitar and Mr. Matt for drums. We loved our experience right away. Once the school season began, we had to switch our lesson days which meant switching instructors. At first, I was nervous about switching but love our new instructors, Papa Dave (guitar) and Mr. Quam (percussion). As with all the instructors, they are encouraging and praise at the appropriate time. They challenge them and offer support. Unfortunately, Mr. Quam was not able to attend the Studio Concert held during the Christmas season. He had a work conflict but asked that we come by the music store where he works to tell him how our son, his student, did on stage. Of course, we did. Mr. Quam was so proud of our little drummer! My son beamed for hours! 
lessons you took as a child and what you liked about it. Or you can tell us what your own kids would like to learn how to do.
there will be a JB Hunt truck parked on the Mercy Health System campus in Rogers (JB Hunt will bring more trucks if needed). Let’s help fill them with supplies! 
don’t know what that means—because Madeline isn’t from Georgia—but I’m sure it means something good. I’m guessing that “Georgia Peach” is probably a phrase that was cool to say back in the 1940’s when my mom was a teenager. (Personally, I’m especially fond of Madeline because she reads my column every week and sometimes forwards it on to other people. 
)
fly off on any strange tangents. But, you were pleasant, and you were yourself. I think you and Mom did great!”
Live a life of love for your Heavenly Father this week, and teach your children to do the same. You know we will meet Him some day. 
nap, time to read a novel in a quiet room, and flowers to plant in the front yard. But the best part of the day was opening the handmade cards and art projects the kids gave me. Because a mother can learn a lot about herself from a handmade card.
reads: “My Mom can do many things. I think she’s best at (blank)” which Jack filled in with the words “cooking hot dogs because she puts cechup (ketchup) and muster (mustard) on it.”
And those simple lines sum it up, if you ask me. There are millions of moms in the world. People have or adopt babies every day. But we are all made special and completely unique by the love of the kids we are blessed to raise. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Stay in touch!