Ah, Teeny Manolo.

My first blog here at the Manolosphere, and the one dearest to my heart.  How could it not be, as I would gripe and grumble and brag about my children?  And how could it not be as I have bonded, commiserated, and laughed with all of you over all of our unique and wonderful kiddos.

But unfortunately, I must say goodbye to all of  you.

You have all been so kind, so understanding, so funny, and so full of sage and wonderful advice.

I shall miss you so.

I hope that at some point, I was able to brighten your day a bit.

I have enjoyed all of my time working for the ever-gracious Manolo, and I thank him for employing me, and giving me the opportunity to meet all of you.  I’ve been writing on teh internets since 2005, and this was by far the best place to be. And I thank you, dearest readers, for actually coming to read what this lowly mommyblogger had to say.

It was an honor.

If you ever feel like adding yet another blog to your reading list, I blog as my (real!) self over here.

Of course, everybody knows the Dust Bowl happened.  And you know, the whole Steinbeck thing.

But if someone had asked me if I knew all of the states in the Dust Bowl and exactly why the Dust Bowl happened and how they got the conditions to change, then  I wouldn’t have been able to give a very good answer.  Oh, something vague and in the ballpark, but not very close.

Then I watched this.

I am a huge fan of Ken Burns, and this documentary utterly fascinated me.  But what can I say, I’m somewhat of a history geek.

This is definitely not the feel-good documentary of the year, and some of the tales of loss will crush your heart.  Even my husband, big tough guy that he is, found himself in tears at some points.  However, there was one survivor who had such perfect timing, and who gave us an enormous laugh where we never expected it.

But the fact is, I had no idea that the scale of the disaster was so huge, so all-encompassing, and I feel like I made up a very large gap in my American History.  I also learned something I found extremely shocking regarding The Grapes of Wrath and the genesis of the novel.

This is definitely appropriate to watch with teens, your MMV.

For 2012’s worst “Toys Oppressive And Destructive to Young Children.”

Wow.

Destructive is such a strong word, as is oppressive.

What are some of these dastardly things?

Hmmm, you’ll find a Lego Friends product, as well as a Fisher Price toy, and even a ball.

Personally, I kind of hate all of the “smart” Fisher Price toys.  They creep me out.

Voting ends December 5, so hurry!

To do another CDF 2.0 post.  I have no idea why, but I have a severe mental blockage when it comes to CDF lately, and it just doesn’t feel right anymore.  I may feel better about it after the New Year, but I don’t think I can stomach doing one until then.

Sigh.

Which is a real bummer, because they were fairly easy to do in one sense.

How’s about some cute famous Dad and offspring photos for the time being?

If you look closely at the kids, that last picture is to die for.

Then don’t come to any parties at my house.

Seriously.

I saw the title of an article that said, “How to Have a Healthier Dinner Party” which of course I didn’t even glance at.

Because to me, a party is all about eating something different than you normally would. Something special, maybe a little decadent.

Of course if there is some sort of dietary restriction going on, then accomodations are immediately made and taken into account in the meal planning.

I have a former friend (our sons no longer go to school together, and so all have drifted apart) who was so into healthy eating that for her son’s 8th birthday party, she had unbuttered popcorn, and grapes as appetizers.  I think she did have a cake, but I was surprised that she couldn’t let go just a little bit for her son’s friends, not all of whom eat like triathletes in training.

Will I have some healthy options? Of course.  Not everything will be drenched in butter or filled to the brim with fat calories.

But will the whole meal be about being perfectly healthy and fat free?

Nope.

I’ll save that for every other day.

I’ve never left a party gushing about how amazingly healthy all the dishes were.  Maybe I’m weird.

Hmpfh, no wonder she and I are no longer friends!

But now that you are reading this, it is too late.

If you don’t have a tween/teen/young adult around the house, you are probably living your life in utter bliss, knowing nothing about a mythical figure called Herobrine, or things called creepers, or the vast network of people who are utterly obsessed with this video game.

Like my son.

I like to think of it as Lego on steroids.  The main principle of the game, as far as I can tell, is for you to survive and build your own world that can encompass pretty much anything that can be represented by blocks.  There are attacks on your personal kingdom by things called creepers and other things called zombies that you are probably more familiar with.   And uh, I think that is pretty much it in a nutshell.  Survive, build, defend, and build some more.

And did you know there are homemade videos on YouTube that represent hundreds and hundreds of hours of work on the part of the people who created the custom worlds for each one?  And that many of them have millions and millions of views, some of them even more than Jennifer Lopez?

Here are a couple of the better ones…

It is somewhat jarring for me to admit that all of these are actually quite enjoyable to watch.

Yup, it’s here.  That magical time when we struggle with whether to buy something online or in the store.  For me, online wins about 98% of the time.

So, in no particular order, here is a list of my toy picks from the Amazon Top 100.  Enjoy.

This is pretty much everywhere this holiday season.  I don’t know how it compares to apps on your smartphone, but at least it is something that is theirs and theirs alone, which has something to be said for it.

You can NEVER go wrong with Lego.  NEVER.

I think this toy wins the title of longest name.  But kids sure do love them some Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

If you’ve got a kid in the right age range, remember what I said up there.

No matter what you think of the feminist aspects of this toy, it is selling like hotcakes.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with bringing an app to life in your own home.

My own little person cannot get enough Little People.

Very clever toy with a gazillion things to do.

The duct tape thing is SO hot right now.  It’s a little ridiculous.  But I am all for encouraging creativity.

We have this here and it is very cute indeed.

Another good outlet for all that creativity.

I have so far resisted the siren call of these little babies, but I may not be able to for much longer.

Yet another toy where it is impossible to go wrong.

The newest Imaginext set for the holidays.

OK, I kind of want these for me.

Ah, this month has been hard.

But I am grateful that I have so many lovely, brilliant, and wise readers.

I promise I will get back into the blogging business with regularity.

I am also grateful for my two awesome, beautiful children who, daily, never fail to impress me with their awesomeness.

I am grateful for a husband I love dearly and has stuck with me through things that would have had other men purchasing a one way ticket to Brazil.

I am grateful for all the people in my life who have offered help to our family when we needed them most.

I can only hope to do the same in return when they are in similar need.

Now, dearest readers, have some of that pumpkin pie for me, because I can’t have any.