Oreo Update

I did it. I went to the store, purchased a large pack of Oreo cookies, and brought them home for an evening of festivities walking down memory lane (for the complete story click here). Daria, Dustin and I sat down, opened every single one of those cookies, scraped out the white middles and formed big balls. Yes, I stood in the kitchen with my kids and threw Oreo middles at my own kitchen walls. It was fun, short lived and a lot to clean up. I learned from Dustin that if you throw your Oreo middle ball with super g-force strength that it not only sticks to your wall but explodes all over the kitchen too. Daria and I had no problem making nice round splats. I probably laughed the most. The kids thought it was fun, but I'm thinking that it's moments like these that are funnier when your parents aren't around. There's something fun about doing strange things without adult supervision. Anyway, it was fun and probably something my kids will never forget.

Ken: After volunteering on the ambulance "I got to pick up fingers tonight" - he loves that type of stuff. (Ken has a day job, but his heart is in volunteering as an EMT)

Dustin: Almost daily we have this conversation, which is driving me nuts.

Dustin: "Mom, you're lucky because you don't have to go to school"

Karie: "I already went to school. I'm lucky that I live in a country that allowed me the opportunity to go to school. School is one of the most important things you will do in your life, AND you can't be a pilot without an education."

Dustin (while rolling his eyeballs at me) "I know, I know. I must be lucky then too"

Daria: After watching the "film" in school. You know, the puberty one. (I've already discussed puberty with her, the film just re-affirmed the information)

Daria "They said that sometimes when you are on your period you might like boys"

Karie (trying to contain my laughter, because every woman knows that is the LEAST likely time that we like boys) "Oh, so when you start to go through puberty you might begin to like boys? (I'm still chuckling at that one)

Karie: "Nikon? Canon? Nikon? Canon?" This is the question I ask myself every day. My Nikon is ready to be shelved leaving me open to a new camera. The question is, should I stick with Nikon or venture out to Canon. Tough question because it is literally comparing apples to apples, and if you're going to fork out a couple thousand bucks for a camera, you've got to make a good decision.

More from Dustin: I happen to notice that under Dustin's right eye are a ton of broken blood vessels. In fact it almost looked like he got punched in the eye but that would cause a bruise, not thousands of tiny red dots.

Karie "Dustin, what happened to your eye?"

Dustin "The vacuum cleaner hit it"

Karie (finally figures out what happened) "The vacuum cleaner hit it, or the vacuum cleaner sucked it?"

Dustin "Well, it only sucked it just a little"

Only little boys would think of putting the vacuum cleaner hose up to their eyeball and let it suck. HELLO! who wants to suck their eyeball out with a vacuum cleaner? I remind myself that one of my jobs as a mother of a boy is to make sure he makes it to his 18th birthday. Wish me luck.

More on Daria: Daria hates going to the doctor. I'm not sure why she has such a huge fear of doctors . I noticed a very dark suspicious mole on her back that she wasn't born with. I finally make an appointment to get it checked out. Daria said she didn't want to go to the doctor because she might get cancer. Ok, real fear for a almost 10 year old. I get that. Except doctors don't give you cancer. The dermatologist's office happens to be in the hospital. This doesn't sit well for Daria. While in the waiting room she asks what the doctor is going to do with the mole. Up until this moment I hadn't even thought of that, which is a huge bummer when you're trying to help your daughter not be scared. To make a long story short, the mole needed to be taken off immediately, right then. Great. I mean, great because I was glad it could be taken care of but now had a hysterical girl on my hands. It is one of the worst feelings having to hold your child down while a doctor cuts a huge hole in your daughters back. Not fun. However, I'm glad that I leaned on my instincts and had the mole checked out.