Pencil Thin, Baking Boogers and Other Randomness

I am a nurse. It is my job to look at things that come out of the body, describe them and then choose from a drop down list on a computer to document what I see. There are choices like brown, green, creamy, thick, loose, thin, soft, formed and so on. But there is one choice that I really don't know what to do with when I see it. And that is pencil thin. What in the world does that mean? In my almost 10 years as an RN, I have not seen anything come out of the body that looks, pencil thin. Seriously.

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I was trying to enjoy a cup of coffee in the kitchen, when Jake wondered in. He looked up at me and said, "See dick, Mommy." I about spit my coffee out of my mouth as I tried to understand what he was saying. "What?" I asked. "See dick. Want see dick, pleeese, Mom." Jake said a little more urgently. "Jake, I don't know what a 'see dick' is," I said to him. Then he walked over the the fridge and tried to open the door. "See dick. See dick." He said while pulling on the door. "Oh, do you want a Cheese Stick?" I said as the light bulb went off. "Yeah, see dick." Jake said with a big grin.

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Doesn't this just make you want to try some of what we have been baking?


It comes complete with some extra chewy little pieces.
Yum. Yum.


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Since our first snow last week, Hayden wanted to build a snowman. After many hours of begging and pleading, Jeff agreed. They built a little snowman. Hayden spent many, many minutes pick out each rock for his eyes and he found some leaves for ears. He was so proud of his creation. He loved his little snowman and show anyone who would look.

So how come a couple days later, did I find him murdering the poor thing? I am not just talking about knocking it over. No, I am talking about knocking it over, throwing the head across the yard and then stomping on it until its no longer recognizable.I just don't get it. Seriously, what is wrong with these kids?

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There are two things that I would really, really like to teach my children. First, I am not the trash can. No matter how 'trashy' I look, I do not want to hold your trash. The actual trash can is located under the sink, always has been, always will be. So Use It!

Secondly, when you put food in your mouth and chew it for a number of minutes, you are suppose to swallow it. Not come and find me and spit it out into my hand. That is so extremely gross. Chew and swallow food. That is all.

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I hope you all have a great weekend. We are going to get our Christmas tree. Well, if we can find one in the blizzard that we are having, should be fun.

Oh and the Blog • Bid •Hope auction is still going on until 5pm PST (aka 8pm EST. I think, time zones are so confusing), don't let someone out bid you. Go here for all the info.

(Un)Kindness of Strangers

I like going shopping, any kind of shopping really. I don't even mind grocery shopping. In fact, that is one of my favorite kinds of shopping to do. I just love walking down the isle and looking at all the food. It inspires me. I get ideas for different things to cook and meals to make. I know, I am weird and probably have an unhealthy relationship with food but none the less, I like to go.

Wait, I need to clarify. I like to go shopping by myself. Because lets face it, the reality is taking kids shopping, well it just sucks. Not every time but most of the time it is not fun for mommy and kids alike.

But who can really blame them. I don't think that I would like being strapped into a cart for an unknown amount of time, constantly being told to not touch things.

But sometimes when we go to the store it is not the kids that make is a the trip terrible, its the people. John Q Public.

Most people are not terrible. Most people are just curious about the kids. When they were babies, we would get stopped a lot and questioned, "Are they triplets?" "Are they all yours?" "Were they natural?" "Do they have the same birthday?" "Did you give birth to them all at the same time?"

Now that they are older, people don't stop us a whole lot. If they do, they ask if the little boys are twins? Or they are confused about their ages. I also get a lot of 'my your hands are full' comments. I don't mind these comments or questions. I smile graciously and answer what I can.

The people that bother me are the ones that look down their noses at me, that scoff when it takes me extra time to walk by or 'tsk tsk' me when one of the little kids gets too far ahead for their liking. They are the people that I see roll their eyes are me or say comments, "Some people just don't know when to quit."

I don't like these people. They harden me to others and make me think twice about talking to strangers and make me bitter about dealing with people.

But there are a few people that are truly diamonds in the rough. This small handful of people don't judge me or scoff at me. They don't ask to personal questions like 'did you have sex three times to get that many?' These people actually help me.

I never see them coming but they are always there when I need it most. Like when Jake is screaming his head off and falling out of the cart while Claire has spilled water all over the isle and herself and Quinn has run off and Hayden is trying to steal and open a candy bar. They swoop in and somehow help me regain control.

They make the kids giggle with a silly face or funny joke. They offer a balloon or small toy as a distraction. They calmly return the missing child. They tell me stories of how horrible their children were in a store.

These people are just magical. I don't know how or from where they come but I am always glad that they do. They deserve so much more than my Thank you's.

This post has been part of Writer's Workshop
Hosted by Mama Kat

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Also, the Blog • Bid •Hope auction benefiting The Liz Logelin Foundation and Anissa Mayhew is still going on. Bids can actually be placed until Friday 12/11 at 5pm PST.

Please check out this post which contains a list of links to all the auction posts.
If you don't want to bid on an item but would still like to help out this worthy cause, just click on the buttons below.

For The Liz Logelin Foundation

Blog Bid Hope: Auction Time!

Welcome to Blog • Bid • Hope, an auction benefiting The Liz Logelin Foundation and Anissa Mayhew.

Our seven host sites will each be offering a different selection of items, so be sure to visit everyone: Adventures in Babywearing, Buried with Children, Mayhem & Moxie, Scary Mommy, 7 Clown Circus, The Extraordinary Ordinary, & Mama’s Losin’ It.

Bidding will begin at $10 and bids will increase at $2 increments. Scroll down to the connected posts, and if you see an item you'd like to bid on, simply leave a comment on that item's post stating your price. Shipping only in the US and Canada. Winners will be notified by Monday, December 14th and can send payment via Paypal.

Thank you for your participation, and happy bidding!
Auction end on Friday 12/11/09 at 5pm PST.

Here is a list of some of the items up for bid

Carolyn's Kitchen Apron
$75 Party Package
Purse And Photo Pendant
Baby Love
Sassy Apron And Soothing Suds
Personalized For your Pup

Pair of "Ohhhhhh" Earrings
Customized Canvas From Complete Silhouette
A Trio Of Girly Fun
Superhero Cape And Telescope
For The Fairy Ballerina
Sock Monkey Fun
Pocket Video Camera

Buckle Toy, Blanket, And Burp Cloths
Celtic Mist Bracelet And Reminisce Heirlooms Hair Clips
Blue Hat Radio Controlled Robot Car
$75 Gift Card To McKenna Designs
Mommy And Me Aprons And Monkey Measuring Spoons
Punkin Wear And Little Alouette

Custom Blog Header
Flipping For Phonics
Michael Buble, Wine Glasses, and Personalized Portraits
Metal Detector For Kids
Countdown To A Crafty Christmas
Little Girl Tutu and Rockin' Boy Onsies
Imaginative Play

Kids ATM
His And Hers
Princess Package
Holiday Bakers Delight
Tween Package
Little Boys Package

Poppy Clips And Room Decor
Dippin' And Dancin' With Baby
Inspire A Writer
Recycled T-Shirt Dresses
Nintendo DS Light

RC Cyclone Speed Racern
Blog Design Package Valued at $225
Space Monkey Print
Gift Set for the Baby (and Parent) On the Go
Toddler Apron and Crayon Roll
Designer Earrings
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Don't see anything you want to bid on? There are many other ways to help:

• Aiming Low, a community site started by Anissa, is hosting a "Shop for Anissa Day" on December 10. Visit their site for vendors who will be donating the days proceeds to Anissa and family.

• You can also donate directly by clicking below.

For The Liz Logelin Foundation

Custom Blog Design by Designer Blogs

Designer Blogs specializes in custom blog designing, which means your blog will be one of a kind and will scream {you}! Each custom design at Designer Blogs is created to reflect the style and personality of the client, rather than the designer, which is why every custom design created by us will always be tailor-made and 100% unique.

Up for bids is Package A. That is everything in a Basic Package plus any combination of 4 mix and match items.

Bidding starts at $10.

Imaginative Play: Play Tent and Kids Camera

Unleash your child's imagination with the Blue Hat Big Adventures play tent. Ideal for home, backyard, parks, parties, day care and more. Then the kids can capture all their fun play with the Little Shots Digital Camera. This promises to be hours of fun.

Bidding starts at $10.

Little Girl Tutu and Rockin' Onsies for Boys

Tutus are so fun and simply adorable on any baby girl! Who doesn't love just love them and these tutus from Beautiful Baby Boutique just have it all. This item is for a light blue ballerina tutu that will make your little girl the star of the show.

And now for the boys. Some little boys were born to rock! This rockin onsie are for just that little boy. This item was donated by the Swanky Chics.

Bidding starts at $10.

Help Your Child Learn to Read with Flipping for Phonics

Reading is such an important skill to learn. Why not give your kids a head start with the Flipping for Phonics system. Flipping for Phonics is a combination of children's story books using word families, music CD's, and a unique one-of-a-kind 6 column flip book used to teach reading to toddlers-adults.

This extraordinary phonics flip book can form over 2000 words. It has built-in flash cards with easily identifiable real life pictures that represent pure phonetic letter sounds. The story books have interesting word family stories that are extraordinarily illustrated with characters that the children can identify with. The CD's are word family stories to music.

Bidding starts at $10.

Michael Buble, Wine and Personalized Portraits (BWC #4)

Included in this basket is a gorgeous 11x14 luster finish custom painting created by Picture To Portrait using one of your very own photos, a set of 2 (8.5 oz) Stemless Champange Flutes wrapped in Silver Wire and decorated with Torquoise, Coffee, Latte and Champagne colored stones donated by Sip In Style, and an incredible Michael Buble Meets Madison Square Garden DVD.

Bidding starts at $10

Help a Child Find Things with a Metal Detector

Do you have a child that likes finding things? Then they need their very own metal detector. What child wouldn't want one?

Designed for children aged 5 and up, this full functioning metal detector allows for some pretty fun "hunting". The adjustable volume and sensitivity to metal helps one to locate buried "treasures". Plug in ear phones keep the treasure "safe". A huge thank you to Aimee at Ain't Yo Mama's Blog is in order for securing this great donation, don't you think? :)

Bidding starts at $10.

Countcount to a Crafty Christmas

Lolly Jane is contributing a unique and fun Christmas Countdown Magnet Board. Perfect for counting down to Christmas Day with the little ones! To keep you busy (as if you're not)while counting down the days get creative with Kimba's new ebook where you’ll find over 180 photos and 72 pages of detailed, step-by-step instructions for 5 new Christmas projects for your home and gift giving. This package also includes a 2009 Christmas Scrapbook donated by Pretty Paper Book, complete with all the embellishments you will need to record your favorite Christmas memories!

Bidding starts at $10.