1,000th Post Giveaway!

Well.  I have been wracking and wracking my brain for a contest worthy of 1,000 yen.  But my brain isn't cooperating lately.  Perhaps it's all this snow.  Or being cooped up inside with three little wild things.  Or the fact that each pregnancy seems to slurp up more and more of my critical thinking brain cells and refuses to give them back.  Something.

Anywho, I finally decided that having some sort of simile contest would be fun.  You know, in of honor of my blog name, "Like Karen with an M".  Have you send in your funnest simile that describes my blog, the one I like best wins, something like that.  (Example: It's like monkies typing Hamlet.  Or... As fun as slipping on yellow snow!)

But Lance made fun of that idea.

I think his words were along the lines of "That's lame."  To which I responded with a sharp-witted-third-grade "You're lame!"

And I don't generally give in to peer pressure.  But I do give in to Lance pressure. (Sometimes.)

So, instead of a simile, in order to enter this giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment with an adective that describes my blog.  The more random, creative, unusual, the better.  Not that you'll be graded on it; I'll be using a random number generator to choose the winner.  But some of the best will be mentioned in the 1,000th post, and that will lead to fame, glory, and a multi-million dollar movie deal.*

And the prize?  A 1,000 yen eGift card to my favorite online retailer, Amazon.com!

I know, it seems like I took the easy way out with this prize.  Because I did.

But seriously, I lurve Amazon.   Luuuuurrrvvveee it.  You can get just about anything in the world from Amazon.  And now that I share an Amazon Prime account with my family (which I highly recommend doing), I never pay for shipping. Awesome.  Plus, I am loving their MP3 downloads; way better than the oh-so-restrictive iTunes.

But I digress.

Win the eGift card and you can download  some music.  Or a movie.  Or buy a book.  Or a Valentine's Day gift for your sweetie. Or one of these.  Or these.  Or even this!  The possibilities are endless!

So, let's review:

1. To enter the contest leave a comment with a fun adjective that describes my blog.
2. You can leave up to five separate comments.
3. The contest ends on Thursday the 14th at 6pm EST.

Happy, er, adjectiving!

*Okay, so that probably won't happen.  But it could.  You never know...

Quote of the Day

 

Joshie: *sniff*sniff*sniff*

Me: Joshie, do you need a tissue?

Joshie: *sniff*sniff*   I... I think I can smell my brain!

Self-portrait Tuesday/Thursday: Snow!

Okay, so I'm a few days late.  But I really did have every intention of doing a self-portrait on Tuesday.  But then I was sick with a cold and also had to be a mom and a chef and an accountant and  a maid and a dinosaur and a train engineer and an artist and a referee whatever else was needed, so I forgot.  Sorry.

So today we got our first significant snow fall of the year.  Which I have to admit I was a tiny bit excited about because I finally broke down and bought a decent pair of snow boots.  (I know, I've lived here over six years.  I think I was just in denial.)  Glamorous, no?

Okay, not the most beautious things, but they're from Land's End (where else?), so they'll last forever.  And they were on clearance and free shipping.  See?  They look better already, right?  Plus, they're moasty-toasty and waterproof, which is really all you need in snow boots.

It's my job to clear the snow on weekdays, mainly so Lance can pull into our driveway when he gets home.  I don't mind; it takes all of 15 minutes with our snowblower.  It stopped snowing around 2:30 and Cole decided to take a nap then, so out I went.

It was cold.  And windy.  A lethal combination.

And my hair was in a ponytail, so all of my growing-back-in baby hairs are sticking out from my ear warmer.  It's a good look.

I got a "Snow Blown in your Face at High Velocity" facial.  Nice.

And I made a rookie snow blower mistake: I left the garage door open.  Oops. 

I find it ironic that it's the snow shovel and sled that took the most snow.

And now I'm sitting, nice and warm in my kitchen, and it's snowing again.  Hard.  Harder than ever.  Oh well.

In other news...

Cole is still obsessed with graham crackers.  In fact, he has already come to expect them after every lunch and whines and whines and whines until I remember to give them to him.  (A maneuver he learned from his brothers, I'm sure.)

Dear Child...

Dear Spencer,

You are six years old.  Please act like it.  Actually, maybe you are, I don't know.  Having never raised a six year old I have no idea.  Whatever.  Stop with the whining and crying.  Now.  I just simply cannot handle another crying, sniveling, whining meltdown from you. 

Sometimes brothers hit you and get away with it. 

Babies need extra attention.  That's just a fact of life.

When you blatantly break the rules you lose priveleges.  You know that.

Life is hard. Grow a pair and toughen up.

Love,

Mommy

p.s.  I washed your blankie today.  Be sure to get it out of the dryer right before bed so it's nice and mosty-toasty.

**************

Dear Josh,

WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO BE A POWER STRUGGLE WITH YOU?!?!?!

Why why why, for the love of all that is good and holy, WHY?!

It doesn't matter what color cup you have.  These socks are exactly the same as the others.  You had a bath this morning, you don't need one tonight.  STOP pushing the baby over.  Because I said so.

Oh, and you and I both know that you could poop in the potty every time if you wanted to.  You never poop in public.  You always find a place to hide in the house and do your business.  And if you're in a rare good mood you go all by yourself.

You know exactly what you're doing, and I'm on to your game, little man.

So guess what?  From now on I'm not gonna waste anymore of my time begging and pleading for you to poop in the potty.  If you want to mess your pants, that's your business.  Just don't expect me to rush to the rescue to help change and clean up.  Oh, you'll get help eventually, just on my schedule, not yours.  And let me tell you, my friend: changing a three year old's poopy pants?  Far back and low on the schedule. 

This is gonna get smelly.  But it must be done.

Love,

Momma

p.s. You were soooo good at the grocery store today.  Thank you.  Oh, and good call running away from that creepy old guy who kept smiling at you.  With your sense of risk you need those kind of instincts.

**************

Dear Cole,

Really?  The burb cloth was on your lap and you just leaned forward and spit up all over the couch instead.  For the love.

And what up with you thinking you can't roll from your belly to your back?  You could do it last week?  What's changed?  And if you truly can't do it, why do you insist on rolling from your back to your belly?  It really makes no sense.

And could you please stop whiping your constantly running nose on my shoulder and/or hair?  It's slimy.  And smelly.  And you already gave me your cold, so I don't know what else is left to share at this point.  Plus?  It's grossing me out, dude.

Love,

The Lady Who Brings the Food

p.s.  Rockin' job with the shots today, big guy!  I can't believe you didn't cry for either one!  You're my little slimy-nosed Superman, you are!

1,000th Blog Post, New Food of the Month, Random Stats

This is my 991st post.  Exciting stuff.  It most certainly calls for a giveaway, but I haven't quite figured out all of the details yet.  I do know that it will involve a prize worth 1,000 yen.  Yessiree, as far as budget is concerned, the sky's the limit... 

*****

Also, I am in need of a new Food of the Month with which to make a fool of myself and confuse you with my rambling thoughts entertain you.  I have posted a poll on my site - check it out and vote for your favorite.  It closes in a week.  Note that I haven't given any dessert choices.  That's because I have a cruise to get ready for in five months and the last thing I need are random brownies or cookies crowding my life every month.  Delicious, warm from the oven cookies... chewy, chocolaty brownies... dang.

*****

And now for a few random stats from today.  It's up to you to decide which ones are true and which ones are slight exagerations.

• Loads of laundry: 12 (and I wasn't even planning on doing laundry today!)
• Times I wiped Cole's nose: 392
• Times Cole screamed in outraged protest when I wiped his nose: 392
• Times Josh pooped in his pants: 2
• Times I told Josh to go sit on the potty so he didn't poop his pants: 254
• Hours Josh went without underpants or pants because he pooped in them: 4
  
• Books Josh and Spencer wanted me to check out from the library today: 38
• Books I actually checked out: 16
• Times I sat down to do something and was interrupted within 3 minutes by one child or another: 74
• Times the interruption was warranted: 2
• Complete dinners I have made for my family in the past week: 7
• Number of dinners Joshie has deigned to eat: 1 (it was pizza)

Cole's New Love

Poor Coley-Boley is sick.  He has a slight fever and a very runny nose. 

But we have discovered a magical cure - something that makes everything all better.

Graham crackers.

The boy is obsessed.  Today is only the second time he's had them, but as soon as I got the box out his little arms and legs started shaking and he let out some very happy yelps.  He already knew exactly what was in that box!

The fact that he doesn't have any teeth or fine motor skills does not hold him back in the least.  He uses those chubby little fingers to get them to his mouth and then goes to town.  Add a sippy cup of water and he's in heaven.

Ah, young love.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you and best wishes for a great 2010!

(To be honest, I've had more enthusiastic New Years kisses.)