A Few of My Favorite Things

300 piece Battat Krinkle Blocks set, available on Amazon.com for $69.95

Krinkle Blocks 
Or, as they are known at my house: "Spikey Blocks." Next to Legos, these have to be the best invention in the entire world. My kids can make everything out of these things, from guns to houses to cars, and if the baby gets a hold of them, which he inevitably does, I don't have to worry about a) performing the Heimlich  maneuver or b) finding little half-digested lego pieces in his poop. I also don't have to fear walking around my house in the dark, because while stepping on these things isn't exactly a "spa experience," it's no "steppingonsharplittleLegosinthedark" experience, either. Win/Win, right?

Image from http://www.equinenow.com

Adjustable Waist Bands

My kids are all skinny. My oldest finally grew into his 6-9 month pants at 15 months. Of course by then, they were much closer to capris than pants, which is, fashionably speaking, unacceptable for little boys. At least, as far as I know. My daughter and youngest son followed this trend, as well, which makes it a horrible chore to keep my kids in pants. Last Christmas, my mother-in-law bought my daughter several pair of blue jeans that had these amazing little elastic contraptions built into the waistbands. They are amazing; I can just pull out the little piece of elastic hidden in the waistband until the pants are tight enough, then hook  the little hidden slit in the elastic over the button, and voila! instant happiness. Or, as the case may be, a perpetually clothed child. More or less, anyway.

Hershey's Take5 Candy Bar

Take5 Candy Bars

I go grocery shopping every two weeks. I shop for the entire two-week period, which means a) it takes a while to finish, and b) I sometimes have to visit several stores. No biggie, right? Except that I am accompanied on my shopping forays by a four-year-old, a two-year-old, and an eight-month-old. By myself. Without any help. So, at the end of my shopping trip, I reward myself for not a) being reduced to a screaming, slobbering hunk of crazy, or b) "accidentally" leaving my kids in the public restroom, by buying a Take5 bar. It's pretzels, peanuts, caramel, and peanut butter, shoved into a creamy chocolate pouch--it satisfies my sweet/salty, soft/crunchy cravings in one blow. And, of course, keeps me sane enough to drive me, my three kids, and two weeks worth of groceries home safely. 

Melba Toast

The baby recently started eating solid food, which is nice, because he's starting to see that the world consists of more than just mommy's milkie dispensers, but it's frustrating, because I don't always have the time to go cook up veggies for him, and cut them into little bite-sized pieces, so he can safely ingest them. Melba toast is amazing because it's (relatively) healthy--I mean, it's not a combination of high-fructose corn syrup, sodium, and artificial apple flavoring--so I don't feel terribly guilty doling it out to him. Also, he doesn't need help eating it (although, the dogs do volunteer their services, anyway). It's crunchy to make his little teething gums feel better, and it sogs up nicely, which is the number one most important feature in any food that babies eat. I mean, how else is he supposed to get really-hard-to-get-out white streaks on my only clean pair of black church pants?

Dog Crate
And why would I include this in my "Favorite Things" list? Because ^ this prevents this:

Image from http://www.fark.com/comments/4152360/

 which is definitely not one of my favorite things.