Amazing Similarities Between Animals and Toddlers

Southpaw, the Sox mascot. I'm not sure what the heck he is. A creature with moldy looking fur.


Some White Sox player. Don't ask me who. I'm not a Sox fan. It's either AJ or Toby.


Did you figure out who that first guy was? Well, this is the other one.


Is it ok that I had a sudden urge for a margarita and a cheeseburger when I saw this guy?


I can save you on car insurance! Really! I can! Come back here! Let me out!!!!


Toddlers do the same thing.


Prettiful, but he wouldn't cooperate and show off his feathers.


And yet another way a member of the animal kingdom is so very much like a toddler.


Yep, he is doing what it looks like he's doing. The kids were highly amused and announced to everyone within earshot, "The gorilla is picking his nose and eating it! Ewww!"


Yeah, it's a picture of giant plops of dog poop. What? Some people go to the zoo and take pictures of the animals, some people, uh, find more, um, "interesting" things to take pictures of.


Brooklyn lay down in this tube and refused to leave. I had to carry her, kicking and screaming out of here.


And this is what happened when I took her out. It's pretty much how she spent the next half hour or so. A zoo trip just isn't a zoo trip without a meltdown from Brooklyn.

Mr. GQ

I dragged the kids out to do a little "back-to-school" shopping yesterday. This is what Clay wore. (You may have to click the picture to enlarge it enough to see the labels.) On this same shopping trip, Lexi wore enough jewelry to make Mr. T jealous and Brooklyn wore her glass Cinderella slippers and a neon pink plastic sun visor.

I walked 5 paces behind the group at all times.



Today I took the kids to the zoo for a couple hours. Two Sox players were there signing autographs and Austin and Savannah are Sox fans so I thought I'd be nice and stand in line for a while so they could meet the players. HA! Apparently you have to get up and camp out at the zoo at like 3:00 in the morning (that's when I go to bed!) and stand in line for 8 hours in order to get up to where the players are. I'm not that nice.

Go visit my awesomely talented friend, Michelle's blog and enter her funny contest about the strangest words you never thought you'd utter (until you became a parent.)

And visit Vanessa's store HERE to enter her HUGE back-to-school giveaway!

Toilet Fixing 101

Clay clogged and flooded the toilet today. I thought it would be helpful if I showed you how to deal with this should the situation ever arise for you.



And here's a much, much better video. It's the first installment of an interview I did with Susan and Janice from 5 Minutes For Mom. I actually have make-up on in this one!

I'm Going to Bed

The kids and I went to National Night Out with friends tonight. We were some of the first people to arrive and the last ones to leave. What a fun time! We watched the firefighters and police warm up for the softball game while eating our free hotdogs and chips. Well, some of us ate our hotdogs. Others just "danced" the hotdogs along the dirty bleachers and licked ketchup off them. Still others, just ate the hotdogs, leaving the buns behind. I guess Clay is now on Atkins.

Then we walked around and tried to keep our eyes on 10 kids while they played games and won little prizes. There was a band playing oldies and we enjoyed watching the kids dance around to the music. We also enjoyed one very enthusiastic old man boogie down to the tunes. This guy got into it! There was free ice cream too and everyone enjoyed that. Some of us (a-hem, CHRIS) enjoyed it again and again and again and again.....

The bummer things about tonight are: my heel hurts so bad I could cry, my kids got to bed too late especially since they have to get up early tomorrow, and clearly my kids (and by "my kids", I mean my kids and my friend Jen's kids) are bizarre and unbalanced.

The cool things about tonight are: although my heel hurts, 400 or so readers have diagnosed my problem and I have a doctor's appointment next week. Although my kids have to get up early tomorrow, my mother-in-law is taking my 3 oldest to work at the food pantry all day woohoo! And of course, there's the fact that my kids are weird and bizarre. (Who likes boring anyway?)

The day didn't end on such a wonderful note, however. When we got home, I saw the boys' room covered with toys and games. I yelled at told Jackson to pick them up. Instead of picking them up, I heard him whine, "Why do I have to pick it up? I didn't make the mess! Austin dumped them out on the floor! Clay made most of the mess!" He was so belligerent in his tone of voice that I lost it and informed him, "Fine. I'll pick it up!" I scooped up the mess, threw it in a laundry basket, and dumped it out the back door. I may or may not let him earn them back. I'm so fed up with his talking back.

Then I noticed that Clay had unwound an entire roll of toilet paper all over the bathroom. Why? What goes through their heads when they think of stuff like this? But, the thing that made it particularly absurd is the fact that he'd just pooped and there it sat, unflushed, in the toilet without a scrap of paper in the bowl. "What, you couldn't wipe your butt? Did you not see this huge wad of toilet paper on the floor??? Do you understand the concept or toilet paper? You're supposed to use it to WIPE YOUR BUTT. You don't use it as CARPETING!"

After the toilet paper extravaganza, a picture frame fell off the wall and the glass shattered all over the place.

I'm going to bed.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Back Home Again

Well I didn't have an internet connection this weekend and you know what - for the first time ever, I didn't have withdrawal. Not that I don't love blogging, but it was so nice not having to think of anything to write. It was so relaxing not having to check my email or read comments. Of course, I'll be making up for my lack of computer time this week, but there's something nice about disconnecting for a little while. That's the only good thing about camping - getting to spend quality time with your family; quality time with no distractions. No tv, no phones, no computer, no work, no school, no friends, no commitments, no appointments. Just the kids saying, "I'm bored" repeatedly and the husband losing his temper because he can't seem to just sit still and enjoy life for 2 minutes. Ahhh good times, good times.

We went camping with our friends, Jen and Chris and their kids and my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and their little baby at Hidden Valley, a campground in Milton, WI. This campground is so nice! The bathrooms are always spotless, they have a nice pool, a store, a clubhouse, laundry, and air conditioned cabins for rent. The place is very well maintained and is seriously one of the nicest places we've camped at over the years. And they recycle there too. Of all the campgrounds we've camped at, this is the only one I've ever seen that recycles. In fact, they provide campers with both garbage and recycling bags and pick your trash up right at your site so you don't have to haul it to a smelly dumpster. Their rates are comparable to most other places and well worth the money, in my opinion. And they don't charge extra if you have more than 2 kids! It's truly family friendly! If you live in southern WI or northern IL, check it out. It's a really nice, friendly campground. I think you'll like it.

Sitting around the campfire is my favorite part. We all sing rousing campifire songs annoying VBS songs that you can't get out of your head complete with choreographed dance moves. We tell scary, ghost stories the kids to walk around the OUTSIDE of the chairs AWAY from the fire 50,000 times. We play fun games like Simon Says "Name methods of torture starting with the letter A". Arson, Arsenic, Atomic bombs, Alligator bites, Angry beavers, Arrows, Attacking monkeys. We have deep, meaningful conversations about important topics such as: how would you like to change the world? What do you want to be when you grow up? If you could change one thing that happened in the past, what would it be? interesting conversations where the answer to any given question is "sausages". How old are you? Sausages. What is your name? Sausages. What do you want for your birthday? Sausages. Ahhh, bonding around the campfire.

I got over 40 mosquito bites on my legs. My legs have been reduced to bloody scratches. West Nile anyone? I thought I stepped on a rock or something a couple months ago because my heel has been hurting like it's bruised. It's not getting better though. I'm almost in tears when I get out of bed in the morning because it hurts so much, and I walk like an arthritic old lady. It was especially bad this weekend. Stupid camping - having to walk to the bathroom and the pool and everywhere.

The weather was beautiful, absolutely beautiful all weekend. Not too hot, not too cold, not humid. You couldn't have asked for better weather. Until last night. It started storming in the middle of the night and it scared the snot outta me. I was wide awake watching the non-stop lightning and listening to the thunder rolling across the sky. I kept debating whether I should wake everyone, make a run for the truck, and drive to the bathrooms for shelter, or leave everyone alone and try to get back to sleep myself. I opted to stay in the camper, but couldn't get to sleep for a couple hours. I do not like being out in storms like that.

Instead of telling you about my trip, I'll show you.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

More Self-Inflicted Torture

***Yay, I got a connection! For now anyway...***


My internet connection was knocked out Thursday night so I couldn’t post on my blogs. I couldn’t let you guys know that we’re going camping this weekend. And now I can’t seem to get an internet connection here in the wilderness, so I’ll just write little updates and post them when I get home, I guess.

Vacation Bible School is over. Hooray! It’s always such a fun week. During the week, I feel so energized and upbeat. By Friday I have to drag myself to church and I walk around from activity to activity, a constant eye on the clock – is it time to go home yet? I was asked to help out with the preschoolers on Thursday and Friday. I left the peace and tranquility of the kitchen and joined the throngs of crazy kids hopped up on sugar and adrenaline.

The curriculum for this year’s VBS was Power Lab. The kids learned that Jesus gives them the power to be thankful; to help others; to be brave; to live forever; to tell others about God’s love.

I learned that Clayton is not, in fact, the most hyperactive kid on the planet. I learned that I’m a “Squidhead”. At least that’s what Clayton called me (very loudly, I might add) in front of the entire church. I guess it could’ve been worse. I also learned that I have the power to be patient (at least sometimes); to be energetic (ok, that may be pushing it a little); to function on 4 hours of sleep (at least for a week); and to be happy I only have six kids to watch every day.

The preschoolers were really cute and certainly seemed to have a lot of fun this week. I think it’s interesting how every class of preschoolers has the same individuals in it. We had a couple of hyper kids who couldn’t seem to sit still for a minute when there were so many things to touch and see and explore. There was the class monitor who kept us up to date on the goings on of the group. “Teacher, he’s being mean to me. Teacher, that girl won’t sit down. Teacher, after church today, my mom and dad and brother and me are going to go out to dinner and I’m going to get chicken nuggets because I don’t really like macaroni and cheese but my brother likes macaroni but I like it sometimes but chicken nuggets are my favorite and we’re going to the best restaurant to eat because I picked the restaurant because I really like it.” They’re all so cute!

So after VBS, we ran home, finished packing up, and hit the road for Wisconsin. About 20 minutes into our trip, the truck started overheating so we got to go the remaining 2 hours and 10 minutes with the heat blowing full blast into the truck. It's all good though. I mean, it was only 92 degrees here so we were feeling a little chilly.
It’s been 4 hours since we arrived and I still haven’t cooled off yet. Oh well, at least the truck didn't burst into flames. Don't laugh - it's happened.

Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re going to say. I DON’T KNOW WHY I GO CAMPING! IT’S A SICKNESS.

***I don't know if I'll be able to update until we get home because my connection is kinda iffy.***

Where Are Your Shoes?

When my alarm went off this morning, I did the unthinkable. I turned off the alarm and I got out of bed. I know! No, no, please, hold your applause. Seriously, I got up, showered, dressed and got going immediately. "We are SO going to make it to church on time today," I thought. Then I remembered that I had volunteered to bring in some Play-Doh toys for the kids in the nursery.

"Jackson, run out to the garage and grab the box of Play Doh stuff please."
"Why?"
"Because I said so."
"Ugh. whine whine whine"

A few minutes passed and Jackson came in from the garage empty-handed.

"Where are the Play Doh things?" I inquired, not the least bit surprised that Jackson had gotten distracted and returned empty-handed.

"In the garage. duh"

"Bring them inside! We have to get going."

"But they're not in the Play Doh box. They're at the bottom of the refrigerator box."

"Why??? Oh, never mind. I don't want to know why they're in there. Just go get them please!"

"Why are you making me get them?" grumble grumble grumble

"Because I'm mean."

"Yes, you are!" Jackson replied as he stomped off to the garage.

Another few minutes passed and he returned empty-handed yet again.

"I can't get them," Jackson complained.

"Ugh. Fine!" I brushed past him and went to retrieve the toys myself.

I walked into the garage and saw that the kids had set up some kind of fort in there. They had every pillow and blanket from every bed in the house, save mine, piled up in the garage. There was a container of crayons artistically distributed over every square inch of floor; there were containers of pretzels and cereal left out to get stale; there were books, flashlights, dolls, stuffed animals, and toys strewn about.

"What the...??? Did you guys really think that was a good idea? Why did you guys put all this stuff out here?"

"It's our clubhouse, Mom. Isn't it cool?"

"Yeah, it's lovely. And the best part is that now I can spend all day washing all this bedding so it doesn't smell like gasoline, grass, and garagey stuff. Delightful."

By the time I'd picked up some of the blankets, pillows, and towels from the garage, it was time to leave. In fact, it was a little past time to leave.

"Come on. Let's go guys. Everyone get in the car. Someone put the PlayDoh stuff in the car too."

I poured myself a cup of coffee to go and went out to the car. Five blocks later, Austin pipes up with, "I don't have my shoes."

"Seriously? You don't have shoes on? Why not? Where did you think we were going? How can you forget your shoes? How? How?? HOW???"

I hung a u-turn and went back so my THIRTEEN year old could get his shoes. So much for being on time today.

Go HERE for your chance to win a Jawbone bluetooth headset. (By the way, some of my readers were a little confused, so I wanted to clarify one point. This headset doesn't work with your regular ole cordless phone in your house. This works with a bluetooth enabled cell phone.)

And go HERE for your chance to win a Lands' End backpack.

Grrrr Auction!

Once again, eBay pulled my auction. I understand why they pulled it the first time. They just don't want unethical people saying the auction is for charity and then pocketing the money. I understand that. When I went to relist it, Make a Wish Foundation didn't come up on their alphabetized list or under the categories of charities helping children. Because it didn't appear to be part of eBay's Giving Works, I listed it again and didn't write in my auction that I was going to donate the money, yet I still tried to make it clear to potential bidders that I really was going to donate the funds.

Apparently you can't say you're going to donate your earnings to charity, but you also can't say that you're not going to say you're going to donate your earnings to charity. I did get a very helpful (and by "helpful", I mean "lame" letter that didn't really explain anything to me. I wrote back to eBay to see just what their problem was and received the following wonderful answer to my question. Don't you just love companies who don't take the time to address your questions and instead send you autoresponders? Autoresponders that pretty much say, "We're not going to answer your question. Do not respond to this letter. We don't really care about your question. Buh-bye." This is really not a complaint specifically about eBay, but against every company who sadly lacks in the customer service department. I honestly don't have anything against eBay. I mean, if it weren't for my auction last year, I wouldn't be where I am right now. That said, I abhor stinky customer service from any company.

(Oooo Oooo! I have a really good customer service story though! I went to Best Buy the other day to check out cameras. I walked to the camera department and began looking around. Very soon, a friendly person asked, "Can I help you with anything?"
At this point, I declined and said that I was just looking.
"No problem. Let me know if you have any questions."
After a few more minutes, I approached this same woman and told her I had a few questions. And then the strangest thing happened. She answered my questions. With intelligence too! She knew what she was talking about! Not only that, but she seemed genuinely pleased to help find the right camera for me. When I told her I was thinking about taking a photography class, she even wrote down the names of a couple photography magazines she thought I might enjoy. It is so rare to find a customer service rep who not only knows what she's talking about, but is willing to share that information with you. And in a pleasant manner, at that! I was thoroughly impressed.

OK, back to the not so great side of customer service.
I hate these autoresponders. Let's see why. Here is the one I got from eBay. Again, I don't really have anything against eBay in particular. I just hate these stupid autoresponders. I've translated it for you so you know what it really says.


*****THIS IS AN AUTORESPONDER. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE*****Thank you for writing to eBay Customer Support.

Why are you bugging us? We won't read your mail. We won't bother to respond to you. We will, however, send this stupid form letter in response to your inquiry because, quite frankly, you aren't worth our time.

We sincerely value you as a member of our trading community and understand your concern regarding your recently removed listing(s).

Ha ha! You lose. We win. You suck. We just took 2 listing fees from you and you have nothing to show for it. Hee hee hee!

We realize that there are times when you may have additional questions.

Unfortunately we don't have time to answer them.

When your listings were removed by eBay, we sent you a Removed Listing Notice, which explained why we removed your listings and provided helpful information about eBay's policies and guidelines.

OK, so maybe it didn't really contain an explanation and much information after all, but it looked official, no?

Should you have further questions or concerns, please review the information below.

which won't answer your questions, but will give you a lot more senseless drivel to read. You know, in case this letter isn't enough for you.

To ensure that eBay remains a safe and fun venue to buy and sell, all listings must meet certain guidelines. When a listing does not meet these guidelines, eBay may have to remove the listing early.

We must protect buyers from the horrors of people like you who offer to donate their money to charity.

For more information on why eBay removes listings please visit (blah blah blah) eBay may remove listings when the item or listing potentially infringes a third party's copyright or trademark, is prohibited on eBay, or when the item or listing otherwise violates eBay's listing policies. More detailed information explaining these policies is provided below:

1. Potentially infringing items violations: "Potentially infringing" means that items may be in violation of certain copyrights, trademarks, or other rights. For your protection, some items here are not allowed (i.e. are "prohibited"), regardless of their legality, because they almost always violate copyright or trademark laws. Some examples of potential copyright infringement are copies of music on CD-R, counterfeit software (including software that has been pre-loaded onto a computer hard drive), and copies of video recorded from TV or other sources. Examples of potential trademark infringement are replica watches, or counterfeit handbags and accessories, and the inappropriate use of brandnames in the title of a listing title that offers an item made by another company. To read more detailed information on eBay's potentially infringing policies please visit (blah blah blah).

Yeah, because "two shirts and a necklace" was really code for "pirated copies of the latest movies".

2. Prohibited items: The listing is for an item which eBay does not allow to be listed on our web site. This means that the item listed may violate a particular law or eBay has deemed it inappropriate for listing. Some examples of these prohibited items would be improperly listed Event Tickets, Offensive materials (such as Nazi or KKK items), as well as certain scanners, cable and satellite descramblers, transceivers, or linear amplifiers.For more information on the regulations on these types of items (listed respectively), please refer to (blah blah blah). Our complete list of Prohibited and Questionable Items policies may be found at (blah blah blah).

Although I don't especially like the Horton Hears a Who t-shirt, I don't think it's particularly offensive. I'm pretty sure it isn't illegal to dress like a dork.

3. A listing violation: the listing fails to meet the appropriate formator guidelines for listing on eBay. To view these guidelines, please visit (blah blah blah). Also, be aware that eBay members are not allowed to use another eBay user's images or descriptions in their listings or About Me page without the owner's permission.

Gotta make sure I didn't steal the pictures or descriptions from anyone else. You know, because there are so many people out there selling these same two shirts and necklace.

If you are a bidder and received a notice about a listing you were participating in, please keep in mind that we are unable to provide you with contact information for the seller. Since the listing was removed by eBay, the results are null and void. We do not recommend that you proceed with a transaction for a listing that has been removed early. Doing so would be at your own risk and without eBay insurance coverage or use of the feedback forum. If you should have additional questions after reading the polices on our site, please use the links provided on this page to contact us.

not that we'll answer you or anything

include your user ID, the item number(s) in question, and a detailed explanation of your situation. This will ensure that the appropriate department addresses your concerns

so we can send you the same generic autoresponder.

Thank you for taking the time to write to eBay

Loser


So, I think I'll give up on the auction. I thought it might be a fun way to raise funds, but it's turning out to be more of a headache than it's worth. I just paid Make A Wish Foundation $75.00 instead.

Vacation Bible School -part one

It's that time again. Time to start going to bed before 3:00 AM. Time to wake up before 9:30 AM. Time to get up and get going in the morning. Time to be totally worn out by noon. Time to get crazy songs stuck in my head for weeks.

In other words, Vacation Bible School time.

When we got home from the church today, I went in the kitchen to make some lunch. From the family room, I hear Clayton say, "Look what I got at church!" I peek around the corner and see Clay holding up an ant trap. Usually they bring home t-shirts and other craft projects. I guess this year, it's ant traps.

"Clayton! That's poison! Put that down now! Where did you get that?! Clay, you can't just go picking stuff up and bringing it home! Ugh!!! Did you put that by your mouth? Let's go wash your hands! That can make you very, very sick, Clayton." Leave it to my kids. Hopefully tomorrow he'll come home with something less toxic and I'll have some pictures to share.


I took a ton of pictures, but I gave my memory card to the person putting together the slide show. (Oh yes - that's right, I forgot to say that I got a backup camera. I just couldn't live without one for weeks.) I'm sure the pictures all look like last year's pics anyway. For example -


Clearly, he's learning that God's love "sticks" to you.
Or maybe that God's love can "transform" you.
Or perhaps it's that God's love is like sticky, blue tape.

What can I say? He's a weird kid.

I always stay and help out with VBS, but I always, always request to be put in the kitchen so I can get away from my kids serve nutritious snacks to the children.

EBay took down my auction because I wrote that I was going to donate the money to the Make A Wish Foundation. I guess you can't write stuff like that on your auctions unless you go through eBays Giving Works. Unfortunately, Make A Wish isn't one of the charities on their list and that's where Savannah wanted to donate the money. Sooo, I relisted the auction, but didn't write that I would be donating the money to Make A Wish. Just so you know, that's still the plan, however. The money from Savannah's auction will indeed be donated to the Make A Wish Foundation.
Here is a new link for it. Thanks!


And remember to leave a comment on my other blog HERE for your chance to win a new Jawbone bluetooth wireless headset.

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.

The Great Cicada Invasion

My parents took Jackson out to their house for a sleepover tonight. He loves going there. Well, all my kids love going out to my parent's house, but Jackson seems to especially love it. Maybe because he's one of the middle kids and it seems like he's always trying to get attention. His behavior lands him trouble more often than not and his siblings tend to pick on him because of that same behavior. It's a vicious circle. He annoys them, so they're mean to him, so he annoys them more, so they're meaner, etc. Anyway, that's another story.

So, he went out to Yia Yia and Papa's where he gets some alone time and one-on-one, total attention. He loves it. My parents (I think) love it and it's a little quieter here at home. I'm not saying it's quieter with Jax gone. It would be quieter with any of the kids gone. For some reason, it just makes a big difference in noise levels when one kid is gone somewhere else. It's strange because if I have an extra kid or two around the house, I don't notice any difference in noise levels. It's no big deal to have extra kids here. But getting rid of one for a couple hours makes a huge difference.

Actually I like it when my kids have friends over because then they take a break from fighting with each other to play with their buddies. Although, maybe I should be glad that they fight with each other. I can only imagine if their factions should ever unite. It would be mutiny. I'm pretty sure they'd have the power to overthrow me and their dad.

Anyway, I knew that Jackson would be going on golf cart rides and doing fun things with my parents so I took the rest of the kids to see Space Chimps this afternoon. It was a cute movie. I think we all enjoyed it. It features the voice of Patrick Warburton. I think he's had a contract since 2000 that states he must be featured in all animated films. It seems like I've heard his voice in every animated feature/cartoon made over the past several years. And every time I hear it, I think of Puddy. (This will separate the Seinfeld fans from the unenlightened other readers.)

Towards the end of the movie, there was a part where the theater was absolutely silent. Not a sound came from the screen. You could have heard crickets cicadas in the background. Not a peep came from anyone in the theater. And then Lexi burped. I'm not talking about a dainty 7 year old girl burp either. I'm talking about an "Oh my gosh, did you get any on you?!" kind of burp. This was followed by uncontrolled giggles coming from each and every one of my kids. Lexi, quick-thinking and on her toes, exclaimed, "Savannah!" as she tried to pass the blame onto her sister. I was ever so proud.

And speaking of cicadas, wow are they loud right now. Last summer, Chicagoland (and some other places) had The Great Cicada Invasion. We couldn't walk outside without crunching over the shells of a thousand cicadas. We found them on our patio, sidewalks, cars, lawns, everywhere. For those of you who don't know what they are, cicadas are creepy-looking, red-eyed bugs. They don't bite or sting so they really don't bother me. They just make loud buzzing noises. They're interesting in that the female lays her eggs in the bark of a tree and the little cicada babies, then drop down and burrow in the ground and don't reemerge for 1 - 17 years depending on the type of cicada. Crazy, huh? Last year, the 17 year cicadas emerged and they were everywhere. It was pretty cool, in a very buggy sort of way.



This year they seem especially loud again. Is it just me, or do any Chicagolanders think the cicadas are really loud right now?

Here are some pictures I took of the kids emerging from cicada shells last summer at the Field Museum in Chicago where they had an Underground Adventure exhibit. (Yes, it's basically just another excuse to play with Smilebox again.)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Sky is Blue. No it's Not.

While watching Finding Nemo, I had this conversation with Clay.


CLAY: Did that fish get eaten?

ME: The mom fish was eaten. The dad fish and Nemo are ok though.

CLAY: A shark ate them?

ME: A big fish ate them.

CLAY: Actually, a shark ate them.

ME: It was a big fish.

CLAY: And sharks are big fish, right?

ME: I give up. You know everything.

I really don't know how I made it to the ripe old age of 38. My kids point out daily just how stupid I am. Austin is especially good for this. It doesn't matter what I say, that kid will find a loophole and exploit it every time without fail.

"The sky is blue."

"Well actually, the sky isn't really blue. The gas molecules in the sky just absorb the shorter wavelengths blah blah blah blah blah..."

Of course, if I gave the scientific explanation, he'd counter with something else.

"The sky looks blue because the molecules absorb the short wavelengths and...."

"No. The sky is blue because it would look weird if it was purple."

It really doesn't matter what I say, Austin's greatest joy in life is achieved by proving me wrong. Oh, if only I were as smart as a teenager. I used to be that smart. I used to know everything. I did!

I think I've figured it out. Babies are born knowing very little. You teach them important stuff. You teach them how to talk and walk, how to feed themselves and read, how to dress themselves and poop on the potty. They look up to you. You have all the answers to life's problems. In fact, you do such a great job teaching them that they eventually become smarter than you.

You begin to realize that you really don't have all the answers. I mean, you don't even know what MileyWorld is. You can't name all the Jonas Brothers. It takes you 12 minutes to send a text message and you have no clue what Webkinz are. You think that Fergie is the Duchess of York and Wii is simply "we" misspelled. Suddenly your kids are rolling their eyes at you because clearly, only the very simple-minded wouldn't know what "IDK" means.

Take heart though. You won't be stupid forever. Some day your kids will probably have kids of their own and suddenly you'll regain your intelligence. In fact, you may even be called wise by your children.