Icky-D's

Like so many others, I've been trying over the past several months to really watch what I feed my family. As someone who works full-time outside the home, it's often difficult to avoid processed foods completely. I'd love to be able to only feed my family homemade, whole foods, but I'll admit to bribing my children/saving time/saving my sanity with the Golden Arches 3 or 4 times a month. While I know it's not the healthiest option, I rationalized my choice with the excuses above.

My boys are partial to their cheeseburgers. SS#1, being a "big kid", typically gets the Double Cheeseburger Mighty Kids Meal, of which, he usually eats the cheeseburger and ends up throwing away the fries. The Manimal, on the other hand usually takes two bites of the cheeseburger in his Happy Meal (the rest of which ends up as dog food), and sucks down every.last.french fry. One saving grace in the fallen Arches meal is that neither of them drink soda, with SS#1 getting Powerade and The Manimal getting milk or apple juice.

After reading Heather's post, however, I'll be rethinking my visits to Mickey D's...

Fun Giveaway!

Check out A Resting Place for a fun giveaway! They've got some really cute stuff in their store, and for a few minutes of help, you could win a $25 gift card!

Thought You'd Like to Know...

I just now discovered that I'm wearing two different colored shoes. The same style, but one brown and one black. Go ahead and laugh.

I did.

This TOTALLY Sucks!

Hah! Gotcha, didn't I?

While I certainly would never let SS#1 or The Manimal use language like this, I suppose it would be OK if they were describing a vacuum cleaner, like I am.

This one really sucks, because it's self-propelled. And from what I know about the vacuum cleaning world (which, if you saw my dog-hair, lego-covered carpet, would appear to be very little), this is a GOOD THING.

MamaKat is GIVING AWAY one of these beauties. What are you waiting for? Go. Now. Enter!

Look at Me Now!

Recently I was very excited to find out that I was the winner in Shane's giveaway. I won a new premade look for my "Enthusiastically ElleBee" blog!

Judi, from Doodlebug Designs was so sweet to work with, and I love the final look of the blog. If you haven't already moseyed over to my other little corner of the blogosphere, check it out, and be sure to check out Doodlebug Designs if you're in need of some new bloggy clothes!

Shh! I've got a secret!

Now, I know it's waaayyy too early to be thinking about Christmas, but one of my favorite parts is finding the perfect gifts to give people. They don't have to be pricey, but the thought is the best part. After all, we're celebrating the most wonderful Gift ever!

One of the activities I used to love around Christmastime was "Secret Santas". With the advent of the blogosphere, we now have a whole new community of online friends with whom to share that activity.

Georgie from "Decisionally Challenged" has decided to run the Secret Santa Soiree. Anything that involves gift giving, and I'm in! Check it out for yourself and see if you don't find yourself humming carols and getting the urge to go Christmas shopping!

Training the Potty

Well, it was bound to happen sometime, what with the pesky habit children have of growing up.

Yes, we've entered the potty training stage with The Manimal.

He's doing surprisingly well, going on the potty both in the morning and at night before bed. We haven't ventured to pull ups or training pants yet, but we're working on it, and he won't be three until January.

Unfortunately, he fails to see the need to "go pee-pee on the potty" at the sitter's house. We've tried bribery, we've tried threats, but he simply refuses. One conversation ended up with him sharing his logic thusly:

Me: "Manimal, why won't you go potty at Miss G's house?"
Manimal: "I NO go potty dere."
Me: "But why? You'll get 5 M & M's" (our bribe for peeing in the potty)
Manimal: "She no have M & M's"
Me: "Yes, she does. I gave them to her."
Manimal: "I no go potty dere. I no need to. I go potty dis morning at my potty."

Clearly he thinks that once or twice in the toilet is sufficient, and in the diaper the rest of the time is wonderful.

Yesterday, however, our conversation went a bit differently. He actually SAT on the potty at Miss G's house.

Me: "Did you go potty at Miss G's today?"
Manimal: "I sit on da potty, Mommy!"
Me: "Good job, buddy. But did you make pee-pee in the potty?"
Manimal: "No. It was stuck."
Me: "The potty was stuck?"
Manimal: "No. Da pee. Was stuck in my penis. It no come out."

Sigh.

The More Things Change

Today something happened that immediately transported me back to grammar school.

As I dropped SS#1 off at school this morning, we were greeted by an overwhelming aroma. I knew right away what it was, even before I saw the pale, peachy pink, sawdusty stuff on the floor.

Two piles of it, actually.

As a mom, I automatically thought, "Well, I hope the kid's ok."

As a transported-back-in-time grade schooler, I related more with the little girl who, covering her own mouth and nose, warned me seriously "Try not to smell."

Never Forget

As I was dropping Sweet Son #1 off at school this morning, we passed by the flagpole at half mast. I asked him if he knew why it was at half mast today.

"Because somebody important died?"

Yes, baby. Many, many somebodies.

Pie Jesu, dona eis requiem sempiternam.

Merciful Jesus, grant them everlasting rest.

Can I Get an "Amen, Sister!"?

I don't really like discussing politics. I don't like being asked "Are you a Republican or a Democrat?" because I have leanings toward issues on both sides of the aisle. I'm excited about this year's presidential election, mainly because regardless of which party takes office, the results will be historic. We'll either have a woman as VP or a Black man as president.

I don't stick my head in the sand on the issues, but as a general rule, I'd rather focus on our commonalities. I think the mudslinging that goes on between candidates during elections STINKS. I don't think it speaks well for either party. It's one thing to say that you are "pro life", but just because the other party is "pro choice" does not mean s/he supports murdering babies. It's one thing to say that you are against the war, but just because the other party supports it does not mean that s/he is in support of our troops dying.

And while we're on the topic, as a friend of mine once said, it must be nice to be able to base your vote entirely on one issue.

If you've been around here for awhile, you know that I love Jen Lancaster. She's a funny, snarky author who tells it like it is. Her post today ("A Cup of Civility") addresses just how I feel about politics, and is worth reading in its entirety, but I have to put an excerpt of it here in case you don't care to click the link. It's THAT important.

"Whatever team you're on, I bet if you check, you'll find that your dog's feet do smell like Fritos. I bet you love your husband. I bet you have a great group of girlfriends. I bet you've all cursed your neighbors when they leave their garbage cans in your driveway. I bet you've had at least one disastrous haircut in your life. I bet you own a certain pair of shoes that you'd have cut a bitch to possess.

I bet if you think about it, you'll find we all have a million samenesses and just a few differences.

But those differences don't have to prevent us from enjoying each other's company provided we have a modicum of respect for each other.

Not long ago I went to a friend of a friend's house to watch Project Runway. There was a group of us there and we were having a fabulous time until I was outed for having voted for the Bush administration. Even though I'd been laughing and talking with everyone for a few hours - they LIKED me - the mood in the room changed instantly. Suddenly, I was the enemy without ever having opened my mouth about politics. After my outing, one of the people there literally stopped talking to me for the rest of the night. Seriously, he would not even acknowledge my presence. And that was bullshit.

I'm deeply weary of what I'm seeing on the Internet right now, too. I'm tired of reading blogs by members of BOTH parties saying that if you don't agree with me, if you don't see the world exactly as I do, then you're either stupid, uninformed, or just quoting sound-bites. I'm repulsed by the notion that if your ideas don't mirror mine, then you are WRONG WRONG WRONG and now I shall sic my comments section on you so they can reiterate how wrong you are because you couldn't possibly have drawn conclusions based on your own research, on your own experiences, on your own historical filter.

Again? That's bullshit. We should be grilling our leaders, not grilling each other.

When did we stop having rational discourse? And why is there suddenly such a lack of common courtesy out there? I understand everyone's passionate about what they believe, hence so many fiery posts. But I don't think we're accomplishing anything with all polarizing, screamingly dogmatic blog posts. How can anyone be expected to listen or get a better perspective on other people's filters when there's so much yelling going on?

Regardless, this website is my living room on the Internet. You all are my guests. So I'm not bringing politics on this site during election season because I WILL NOT allow anyone to make you feel unwelcome or uncomfortable here in my home.

And if you need to use the bathroom, it's upstairs and to the right."

You can use mine too. Just be sure to put the seat down when you're done. 'Cause honestly, it's those kind of issues that I deal with on a day-to-day basis. Not really concerned about Bristol Palin's love life.

Bookworm

Hi, my name is ElleBee, and I'm a biblioholic.

I admit it, I'm powerless over the written word. My mom taught me to read before I was four, and I haven't stopped since. I'll admit, my addiction to books over the years, has resulted in more than a few library fines, and more than a few, ahem, significant purchases at Barnes & Noble and Borders Books. Sadly, my favorite independent bookstore, Books & Co. , was sold to a conglomerate a while back. They still operate under their own name, but it's just not the same...

Enough reminiscing, though. Now that I'm trying desperately to be more pennywise, the local public library and I are again on a first name basis. I'm also looking for creative ways to secure reading material.

That being said, check out Deena's site. She's a book lover, like me, and is GIVING them away! For the entire month of September. Do you know how many books that is? Come on now, you remember the rhyme! Say it with me, "Thirty days hath September..." Yessiree, that's thirty books in thirty days. Ah, bliss. Check her out every day for a new giveaway!