Mom, you scared the shark!

Last night, I completed another parental rite of passage - this the passage of tripping over your child's unfortunately placed toy and falling down the stairs. When I roared up the stairs that her toys and shoes should not be left in the middle of the step for me to trip over, I was met with silence. I know she heard me, I left her room not 30 seconds before, but I let it go and sulked in silence.

This morning, on our way downstairs, I pointed out the long plastic shark that led to the previous night's (pride) injury and pointed out that we don't leave our toys on the stairs. I explained I stepped on the shark and fell down the stairs. I took KIC's silence for an apology/acknowledgement of the severity of the situation and was satisfied.

Not five minutes later, the following conversation ensued:

KIC: MOM! You scared the shark!
Me: I scared the shark?!?!?!
KIC: Yes, when you fell on him down the stairs, you scared the shark. Now he will have to have quiet time for the rest of the day.
Me: But what about me?? I hurt myself tripping over the shark in the first place!
KIC, confidently: You'll be okay, but he needs a quiet day.

Guess the lesson here is be more careful around toy plastic sharks. *smh*

Avon Walk: Desperate Times call for Desperate Measures

Holy cow, y'all! Only 39 days until the Avon Walk in Chicago and I'm $900 away from my goal! Time to step up my game!

For this week only, I am offering an autographed copy of Jenny Lawson's "Let's Pretend This Never Happened".

If you are unfamiliar with Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, check her out here: The Bloggess Chooses her Battles

I'm starting the bidding at $20.

Additionally, if I raise $500 between now and May 7, I will dye my hair pink for the walk! If you think I'm bluffing, rest assured, I've already spoken to my hair stylist. We're gonna do the dang thing! I've even done a mock up of what my hair would look like (please ignore the helmet head, I used MS Paint):

Look Ma, it's PINK!

In conclusion: Bid on The Bloggess' autographed book. Bidding starts NOW at $20 and will go until midnight, 4/28. To bid, leave a comment on this post, please. :)

Also, help me reach my goal so I can be the prettiest one at the Avon Walk! Thank you for your support!

P.S. T-shirts are still available for purchase. P.P.S. Here's the link to donate to avoid an EPIC fail: http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR/Walk/Chicago?px=5276065&pg=personal&fr_id=2171

4 year old attitude

Recently, I witnessed an interaction between a mother and child that was achingly familiar. The girl threw such attitude towards her mother that I could guess her age, almost down to the day! When the mother said "4", I nodded knowingly as it was the same vein of attitude I receive from KIC on a regular basis.

KIC and I have a ritual that plays out time and time again. She loves to cook with me and I love having her in the kitchen, however, sometimes her short attention span (ooooo, something shiny!) kicks in. To help balance that, I've started playing music when we're in the kitchen together. Not much is off limits for us. We listen to everything from The Bangles to KC and the Sunshine Band to Ke$ha. I thought I was a cool mom, until a Ke$ha song came on. I sang the intro with Ke$ha (as you do) and KIC looked right at me and said "You're not in this song." No drama, no attitude, just a matter of fact way of saying "Yeah, mom, you can stop singing now." I said, rather pitifully, "But I can sing too, right??" to which she replied "No. You're not in this song."

I am thinking KIC has created a new twist on an old adage: Mothers should be seen and not heard. Either that or I REALLY need to work on my singing voice.

Avon Walk: Fundraising updates!

Hello again from Crazyville! It's been a crazy couple of weeks around the Shoup House.

I have some results to give for the fundraising efforts:

Winner of one Whip It UP! Cakes by Tish: Learic Cramer!!
Winner of the 2012 White House Easter Eggs: Jennifer Moss Kinkaid!!

Thank you ladies! I'll be in touch shortly regarding arrangements and such.

It's also time to announce our next fundraising effort. I am selling T-shirts with our team logo on them. All proceeds will go towards my team's fundraising effort. I am accepting payment via Paypal. These are good quality, Guildan T-shirts and I have a range of sizes available. When indicating your purchase, let me know if you want pink

or gray:

T-shirts are $22 plus shipping. If I sell out, no worries. I can always order more! Please email me at tnkgurl @ yahoo . com (minus the spaces) with your orders!

Thanks everyone for your support. I am only $905 away from my goal! So close!!

Avon Walk Chicago: The fundraising goes on!

Soon, I'll be announcing the winner of a "Whip It UP! Cakes by Tish" cake! Huge thanks to everyone who donated in the month of March!

We're exactly 60 days out from the big event and this girl still has some fundraising to do! Therefore, I am announcing an auction style fundraiser. Every week in April, I will post an item that you can bid on. It's not a silent auction, so people can see what you bid. Your final bid will not include shipping and handling, though there won't be tax (bonus!)! Please leave a comment with your bid on this blog, not on Facebook.

First item up for bidding is a set of 2012 White House Easter Eggs.

You get the full set, including the Bo egg shipped to your door. These eggs are special as it is the first year Bo gets his very own Easter Egg!!

The bidding starts at $10 and goes up in $1 increments. Bidding ends at midnight on April 7 and winners will be notified April 8th. Payment is requested 24 hours from the time of announcement.

Remember, this all goes towards a good cause and you get a really cool prize! Thanks and happy bidding

Are we setting a precedent?

For those of you who read my Facebook statuses, it comes as no surprise that we have a new addition in the Shoup House. We branched out beyond dogs and cats and have included rodents in our menagerie. KIC had attached herself to one of our foster kitties who was beyond unsuitable for the long term. In desperation one day, I told KIC that if we could find the foster kitty (who shall remain nameless) a new home, that I would get her a hamster. She flatly declined and I left it alone, resigning myself that {name redacted} would be with us forever.

The time came and I was fairly insistent that {name redacted} get a chance to find a new home. KIC put up no fuss and came with me to take {name redacted} to Petsmart to increase her chances of finding a good home. I should have known something was percolating in KIC's significantly underestimated brain. As we were leaving the store, she turns to me and says "Can I get my hamster now, Mommy?" sonofa.... It didn't happen that day, but only because I wanted to find a hamster at one of our local shelters.

After a two week search, and being unable to find a hamster at any of our local shelters, I checked craigslist and found one, with cage, for $10. DH met the seller, gave her $10 and got the "goods" so to speak. While investigating, it turns out the poor thing had mites like nobody's business. DH was very patient and doused the little critter with anti-mite spray and changed out her mite infested bedding. To say the hamster was grateful for the attention and the efforts would be to tell a complete falsehood. I believe she drew blood more than once in the time spent hosing her down.

KIC met her and named her Princess Gypsy. Gypsy is probably accurate as she is feisty as all get out, but the Princess part is a COMPLETE misnomer. We explained that Princess Gypsy was sick and kind of grumpy because she was sick, so KIC couldn't handle Princess Gypsy because otherwise, Princess Gypsy might bite.

Princess Gypsy has since been declared mite free and has relocated to KIC's bedroom. KIC, for her part, is SUPER excited about this development and checking on Princess Gypsy is the first thing KIC does in the morning. Princess Gypsy, being no fool, puts on a very good show for KIC, causing KIC to proclaim "Princess Gypsy LOVES ME, right?!?!" You're thinking, awww, that's so sweet, except, with the very next breath, KIC says "But I can't handle her, because she might bite me, but she loves me." While there's a life lesson in there somewhere, I'm hoping it's not, "they beat me because they love me."

I shoulda known adding to the Shoup House was a bad idea!

Jam of the Week "B*tches in Bookstores"

Okay, technically, I'm cheating as this is more of a parody than an actual tune, but honest to goodness, I can't stop listening to it. Check it out!