Sunday Sound Out

I hope everyone had a good week! I had a busy one. I haven't even finished unpacking from BlogHer. I have 2 tote bags full of swag that I still have to go through! I want to apologize to all the wonderful people I met at BlogHer and then forgot to mention in my recap. I wasn't on purpose. My kids have just sucked the brain cells outta my head and I can't remember anything.
Just a reminder about my auction to raise money from the Make A Wish Foundation. You can check it out HERE. Mimi also has an auction for a painting to raise money for a cancer family. You can find that one HERE. And Michelle is working on setting up a non-profit organization to raise money for cancer families. You can check that out HERE.

You can check out my latest product review HERE and enter for a chance to win a new Jawbone bluetooth headset.

Now to answer viewer mail.....

One thing I learned about marshmallows with the Feingold program - they have blue dye in them, It makes the marshmallow appear more white. There are no good substitutes.
They usually have artificial vanilla too. There is a substitute though. I found natural marshmallows at The Squirrel's Nest. I ordered some for our camping next camping trip. I'll let you know how they taste.

That's cool I sound like Janie! =) Is she weird too?
My friend Janie is totally weird. But in the best way! :) Love ya Jane!

A few people have told me that they're having problems linking to my blog. A reader wrote this....
For those who can't get your blog address to link on their blogs, try this http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/atom.xmlI asked the question on the blogger help forum and they said that C&Ping your address was not auto-discovering for some reason.Since the above link works for me, I hope it helps others out.
Thank you for the tip!

Brooklyn looks very tan and her hair looks blonder.... does it lighten from the sun? Nah, I just dyed it because I wanted her to have more fun (and less tantrums).
Before any angry people write me and tell me not to dye a 2 year old's hair, I'm KIDDING. Yes, it's the sun.

Ok, the only thing I have to say about this whole post is Austin is a GENIUS! Dude! His ability to think outside the box is amazing. Did Brooklyn have a red mark on her head afterwards?
Nope, she didn't have a red mark from the goggles. She did get a red mark later when Clay threw a toy and hit her though.

So, am I right or what? Once you get past 5 kids...my theory is "What's one more?". It was no harder with 11 than it is with 6, is it?
I agree with your theory! In fact, it may just get a little easier because some of the older kids can take over some chores and help out with the little ones. Hey Debi - I found another big family for you. I met this sweet woman, Mary, at BlogHer. She has 10 kids and a cool blog HERE.

Dont you just love the gift shops at these place....NOT!Its the same at Disney - do a ride and exit through the gift shop.How do you manage to get home without a car load of junk - I mean memoribillia - which will be discarded the next day?
I just tell the kids that we didn't come to the zoo/park/whatever to shop. We came to see the animals/go on the rides/whatever. I'm just mean that way. Oh wait - that's not totally true. I do get the kids "squished pennies" sometimes. They collect them, so when we go someplace that has a squished penny machine, I oftentimes let them get one. You can't beat a 51 cent souvenir!

Great zoo pictures. I know that you have been asked this before, but, (I have forgotten...lost brain cells through 5 pregnancies!) what type of camera do you have? Your pictures come out looking really clear.
It's a Sony Cybershot with an 11 times zoom. And it's broken boo hoo hoo.

I'm curious...Does Brooklyn habitally go to Austin for comfort? How is Savannah with Brooklyn? In many pictures we see Austin taking care of his little sister. I love seeing pictures of your older kids taking care of the younger ones. I tell my kids all the time that their brothers and sisters are their friends for the rest of their lives.
Nope, actually I think Savannah helps to care for Brooklyn more often than Austin does. And lately, Lex has been playing Mama to Brooklyn. I cherish the times they get along and help each other. It seems they're few and far between.


Awwwww

So do your friends now want to go to the zoo with you just so you have more blog material and they can experience it firsthand?
I highly, highly doubt it.

What? What? WHAT? I stop reading for a couple if months due to an insane ammount of sewing I've been doing, I come back and Brooklyn is HUGE! Not only that, but her hair grew like a FOOT and it's BLONDE now? What happened??????
This is why you don't take a break from reading for a couple months. :D

I've been thinking about getting a PedEgg too, but everyone in my house thinks its so totally gross that I've been reluctant. Maybe I'll just do it anyway and not tell them. ;) Are your heels smoother now that you've been using it?
Yep, it's awesome, but I agree with the other reader who wrote that the blades do get dull. You'll need replacements blades at some point.

My hair was hideous and my mother kept it that way. What was their deal back in the 70's anyway!?!?

Ahhh the 70s. Hideous, you say? Yeah, it's a toss-up between the boy haircut, the smocked dress or those snazzy mirrors in the background.

So, for all of us out there who do not know, can you please tell us ignorant people just what BlogHer is? I've seen you mention it a lot, but I have no clue exactly what the convention is for?
Here's a link to the BlogHer website. The BlogHer conference is a time for us bloggers to come together, network, share, learn, and have some fun. You have to register for the conference and there are different options available from the whole kit and caboodle, to just one day of the conference to just the cocktail parties. There are dozens of sessions you can attend from all topics blogging. The BlogHer sponsors hand out a lot of freebies and there are fun extras like a spa room where you could get massages and the Sesame Street suite where you could make a video with Grover or Abby Cadabby. It's a fun time for those who have just started blogging, those who have been blogging for years, and everyone in between. So now you know for next year. :)

Are you sure you're not really my cousin Terry? Yu look just like her.
Ummm yeah, I'm your cousin Terry.

All I see is photobucket asking you to upgrade. What is up with that?
The person who did my blog design used her own Photobucket account to store the images on my blog. Apparently she exceeded her bandwidth leaving all her customers with error messages on their blogs. And to top it off, she's out of business now. Nice, huh?

So, a question for you to ponder.... What new & quirky things will you encounter in your home when you return from your trip? What do you miss most when you are gone?
I've found all sorts of horrific fun and quirky things upon returning from trips. This time, however, everything was great. Probably because Joe and the kids were out camping while I was gone.

Okay, so I ws reviewing the SSO from July 13th, and saw that someone had asked about Brooklyn being on the St. Jude's website. I'm fairly new to your blog, so did I miss something?!? Was she sick when she was an infant?
No, no, no. I just used Brooklyn's photo on my St. Jude banner over there to the right. She was never sick. I made that banner before I'd ever met Julian or Coleman or any other kid battling cancer or I would've probably used one of their pictures.

My real question to you though: given your paranoia of knocking yourself unconscious and being found by the maid, did you get dressed before cleaning up the water or take your chances?
Why do you think I was paranoid of knocking myself unconscious? The poor housekeeper would've had nightmares for life!

Maybe you can share the name of the person who fixed your blog? I know there are a BUNCH of us who were either waiting on a design or had a design from that company that went out of business! (I paid for a re-design and never got it - grrr!) Oh well, jJust a thought.....if your web buddy needs some more work.
Her name is Kelli. She's super awesome. She does websites primarily for Christian authors and you can find her HERE and HERE.

When you take a trip somewhere in your car, do you always drive 90mph?
Yes.
You can easily cut a half-hour off your drive time over a long distance by doing so. But your mileage suffers.
I mean, no. No, of course I don't drive that fast. That would be silly. And I don't. I mean, I'm not. Silly, that is.
I'm guessing the same reason keeps the airlines from flooring it across the country all the time.

Have you ever considered having a full-time TRAVEL BLOG? Companies would pay you a retainer..to go out and visit far flung resorts and tourist traps..Then, you would just do a Dawn Report. The companies would profit..many new people would become travelers..It would be a very wise investment...plus, you would have a wonderful time as well.
How cool would that be?!! Get on that, will ya?

So..WHO is the celebrity you ran into?
You do realize that Grover was the celebrity. What? You were expecting someone less, um, furry?

Ok.. I have to know. My daughter flys to and from her father's 4-5times a year. We've never dared send her with her crochet project as she didn't want her favorite hook taken away. How were you able to get your hook and/or scissors on the plane?
I didn't take scissors (although small scissors are allowed now) and crochet hooks and knitting needles are fine to take on a plane.

I am anxiously awaiting 5 Minutes for Mom to post their interview with you! You wouldn't happen to know when that will be?
I don't, but I'll let you know as soon as I know. Here's a trailer though - 5MinutesforMom

Did you enjoy the Sea Lions??
Ummm they were climbing all over each other and barking at each other. They were smelly and loud. It was like being at home!

And on Pier 39, did you try Trish's Donuts?
Nooo, but I saw it and if I hadn't been so full of sourdough, I would totally have gotten a bag for myself to share.

Did I see a tattoo on your ankle in one of those pics in S.F.? Is it true that our Dawn is a closet wild-child??
I got that back when I was 18 and knew everything . It seemed like a good idea at the time.

I adore that you and Grover have the exact same expression. That is PRICELESS!
We planned it that way.

The haircut is sizzling, and you must be working out or something because you just GLOW. --Ooooh. Wait a second...are you pregnant....again? :)
Ummm no. Bright lights + oil on my face = "glow".

SSO: Did other anonymous people really ask if you had a blog on those auctions, or did you ask your friends to post if you had a blog?
Those were anonymous people.

Ok so I looked at all the auctions posted on ebay...and for the record you are way too funny to be contained in 1 human body. SO, my question is, Does everyone in the world have a blog??? The first question on each action was asking if you had a blog. I just thought that was funny. Glad to see Savannah's auction doing so well. Hope it sells well.
I know! I thought that was strange too. Not too long ago, I didn't even know what a blog was.

Here's a possible SSO question:In today's recap of the BlogHer conference, you made a list of blogs to check out. Here is a quote:"Alex from Flexible Parenting - she has a nice, clean blog"So are we to assume that many of these blogs are not "clean"?
There are several that are "clean" and some having swearing and are a bit more crude. There are a variety, if you will.

We obviously are from the same generation. What does "IDK" mean?
I don't know. I mean, I do know and it's I don't know. I mean, I know what it means. It means I don't know. I do really know though. You know?

Oh, but I DO know the names of all the Jonas Brothers. Kevin is the oldest one who plays guitar but doesn't sing very much. Joe sings lead and just starred in "Camp Rock" on the Disney Channel. Nick is the one with the curly hair and is the youngest of the three. They have a much younger brother, whose name I cannot recall at the moment. Can you tell I have a 10 yo daughter who has repeatedly tried to get me to remember who is who? I can't remember my own phone number, but I can tell you all about the Jonas brothers! Oh, and rumor has it that Nick is now dating Selena Gomez, but their publicists claim they are "just friends".
Uh yeah, you might not want to go around telling people this. ;)

Do you have any suggestions about how to get poop in the toilet? My son has been potty trained for 2 months - but refuses to poop in the potty. He goes and gets a pull up on, and poops in it. Then he takes the pullup off, puts the poop in the toilet, and the pull-up in the diaper bin. He still wears diapers at night... Both DH and I have decided we can't fight this one - no matter what I try, he won't go poop in the potty... any ideas short of sleeping on the pot?
I personally don't worry about it. I figure they're not going to go off to college pooping in their pants. They'll do it in their own time. That's just my theory though. A lot of people have a lot of different potty training ideas that have worked for them. You can check out everyone's potty training ideas HERE.

Papa? Why not Papou? My father is Greek and that's what all the grandkid's call him. It's so cute when they're really young.
I don't know. I had a "Papa" so that's what I taught my kids to call my dad. Savannah calls him Papou though.

Remember to check out my auctions and Mimi's auction and stop by my review blog to enter for your chance to win a new Jawbone bluetooth headset.