• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Drops of Awesome

Personal Blog of Author Kathryn Thompson

  • Home
  • About
  • Author Page
  • Events
  • Merch
  • Contact

Dan

Using your head

November 1, 2010 by Dan

We were sitting down to a tasty hot-dog dinner a few nights ago, and Magoo was having a difficult time with the mustard. He simply could not squeeze it hard enough to get it to squirt.

“Let me help you, Buddy”, I said, “this mustard bottle is really hard to squeeze”.

“I know!” exclaimed Laylee. “When I put my mustard on, I had to use both hands and squeeze the bottle against my forehead!”

May that mental image remain with me forever.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

How to know if things are going great

August 29, 2010 by Dan

As we sat down to breakfast this morning, Laylee expressed her happiness with her situation in life:

“Everything is going great for me right now. My hair is turning curly, I have a loose tooth, and I brushed my teeth with my timer this morning.”

Right on, sweetie.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

The Phantom Experience — According to Dan

September 15, 2008 by Dan

Yeah. That guy’s pretty much a freak show.

Filed Under: Around Town, Reviews and Giveaways

Covering all the bases

August 9, 2008 by Dan

Overheard recently:

DYM:  Does anyone know where the scissors are?

Magoo:  [drawl]  Nooope. [fast]  I-know-I-know-I-know! [pause]  Whaaaat?

____________________________

DYM: [putting on Magoo’s elbow pads]  It’s elbow time!

Magoo: I LOOOOVE ebow time!  … Wha’s ebow time?

____________________________

DYM:  We’re having some bacon for dinner.

Magoo:  I LOOOOOVE bacon! … Wha’s bacon?

Bonus line from Laylee:

Laylee:  It’s a good thing I washed my hands because bacon is hard to fork.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Her back is “out”

June 15, 2008 by Dan

Kathryn’s back is “out”. Not “out” as in “un-cool”; “out” as in “out of commission”. (I find her back very cool.) So she asked I post a little something to let you all know that she has not, in fact, passed away, but is merely immobilized for the time being.

Because staying on her back is crucial to her recovery, today was a unique Father’s day–I got to really be a dad, full-bore, the whole day. It was tiring, but I love my family and it was great to be able to run the whole show for them.

Do you like my party hat?

Thank you so much to those who have been aware of Kathryn’s sidelined state and have been so kind. Your encouraging words and especially your helpful hands (thanks for the dinners!) have really cheered us and helped us along.

One such friend, whom I will call Brandy, went so far as to take Laylee shopping to get a Father’s Day present for me. Laylee had decided (on her own) that I needed new “work shoes”. Not your everyday Father’s Day gift idea, for sure. I guess my current pair are starting to deteriorate a bit. So Kathryn sent her to get me a new pair like my old ones:

Old shoes.

Instead, here is what she came home with:

New shoes.

Apparently, the trip to pick them out was quite fun, too; Brandy sent us an email afterwards to detail their exploits together, from which I quote:

“Laylee was so adorable today =) She made Roberto and I laugh the entire time! I’m going to try and remember the funny things she said and share them with you.

But first you should know that Laylee picked out the shoes for Dan all by herself-—she didn’t want to get him tennis shoes-—she wanted to get him ”˜work’ shoes. She was so cute-—very particular about which shoes he’d like. So, yeah — I hope you like them, or rather Dan likes them!

Laylee was very proud of herself. I pointed out many Skechers and Laylee would say ”˜those actually look like Bobsled shoes’ if the soles had bumps on them—-which most of the Skechers had. She said that about 3 pairs of Skechers. It was hilarious—-like when have you ever been shopping for Bobsled shoes before and how does she know what those would look like?!

She liked the fact that the shoes she chose would look good with “jeans… and even sweats”—-she’s so funny. I tried to steer her towards running shoes like you described or other Skechers that you had to tie up and had some design on them-—like two-toned or stripes, but she was set on black as he already had a brown pair of shoes. I had Laylee try on the shoes for comfort testing—-it was cute—-she tried on one pair and said they had ”˜bumps’ on the sides, so they wouldn’t work. She really thought the ones we ended up getting were comfy!

Laylee told us she made a Father’s Day card and said ”˜I wrote a Father’s Day card and put “To Dad” and other Father’s Day stuff’ =) It was funnier the way she said it because it sounded like ”˜To Dad’ was a Father’s Day saying or something.

Laylee said ”˜I am a good example in my family because I always have to remind my mom and dad to not say bad words’. Which after we laughed, I told Roberto it is probably words like ”˜hate (I hate peas) or stupid’ etc. But it sounds so funny coming from a child — as though you used swear words 😉 <ed.: We used to sometimes, in extreme situations, say “gosh”. I guess we still do, since Laylee has to remind us not too. 🙂 >

I told Laylee she could pick out Dan’s favorite candy bar — so we were looking at all the choices and she picks the Hershey Bar and says ”˜I’ve seen him eat one of these before, so it must be his favorite’. Ahhhhh, too funny.

Laylee told us she was going to keep Dan’s present a secret, so it’s like ”˜keeping the beans’ instead of ‘spilling the beans’–too clever! =)

We bought Laylee bubble gum and she said as she chewed some ”˜it makes me smile because it is so delicious.’ She then stated ”˜when people are sad, they should eat food because then it would make them smile and be happy’—-she has no idea that it’s called emotional eating-—LoL.

So, it was entertaining and enjoyable to spend time with Laylee-—she’s great Kathryn!”

Thanks for “keeping the beans”, Laylee. It was a great Father’s Day surprise. 🙂

Dad and Laylee, Father's Day 2008

P.S. I wore the shoes to church today, and they were comfy and looked great.

Filed Under: Holidays

Magoo is Three-ish

June 15, 2008 by Dan

“Something happened to Magoo on his third birthday. As he collapsed into an exhausted coma on my lap after a fun-filled day at Disneyland and slept sweetly through the singing and the candles and the cake, some crazy switch of three-ish mischief flipped on in his head. He woke up a new man and he hasn’t been the same since.”

Read more about the Swedish Fish and the rocks in the milk jug over at Parenting.com.

Filed Under: Parenting

I can’t fill her shoes

July 29, 2007 by Dan

With Kathryn at BlogHer, I’ve taken the helm around here. Let me tell you, it’s been surprisingly difficult.

No, not taking care of the kids. I mean, it’s really hard work, but I’ve been solo with them before, so it wasn’t a surprise how much work Kathryn does on a daily basis to keep our ship sailing. Since I’m the one hanging out all day with the kiddos, I figured I’d try my hand at the blog-about-how-cute-the-kids-are thing, and that’s what I found surprisingly tough.

How does she remember all the cute things the kids say? They are spouting cuteness at all times except when I have something to write with. There was at least one really, really great Laylee-ism, where she took some colloquialism and turned it funny somehow, and I cannot remember what it was. I’m so glad that Kathryn captures a few precious drops of toddleric wit and wisdom here on the blog. We’ll always have some little-kid fun-ness preserved here, long after they’ve broken the four foot barrier.

And then, when does she find the time to turn their antics into blog posts? Well, it’s true; I know where she gets some of the time :)… but still–it’s a big investment.

All of this on top of being the World’s Greatest Mom. (As the World’s Greatest Dad, I am authorized to write that about her with Proper Noun Casing.)

Thanks for all you do, baby.

Well, it’s the day before she comes home (well, it’s after midnight, so it’s technically the last day of the trip), and this is what I’ve got: one picture and one story.

Laylee dipping her cantaloupe in ketchup:

Funny, this cantaloupe tastes like chicken

A few nights ago at teeth brushing time, Magoo wanted to rinse and spit just like Laylee. We don’t use toothpaste with him yet, so he doesn’t really need to, but it would be a good skill for him to acquire, so I hand him a cup of water to try it. He takes a swig, swishes it around, tips his head over the sink, and … *gulp* swallows. The lack of water to spit disturbs him. He repeats this two or three times, getting more frustrated with each failed spit attempt. I hope he didn’t notice me chuckling. Before I took the cup away, he did manage to get one good spit in. Good times.

I can hardly wait to snuggle on the couch with my schmoop while she regales me with stories of her adventures. Come home soon, baby!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Tip Tuesday – Special Times

October 24, 2006 by Dan

[Daring Young Dad here. I’m a Guest Blogger Schmoop today. Hi! *waves wildly*]

Once upon a time, I did not know how to make chocolate-chip cookies. Shocking, I know. This is the story of how I learned.

memories5My mom is a good cook. At least she has been for as long as I’ve known her. When I was small and trying to spend as much time as possible underfoot, I spent a lot of time with her in the kitchen. I loved to cook with her. I was fascinated with how you could put a bunch of stark, homogenous ingredients together in a bowl, mix them into some kind of batter or dough, and cook it, and then end up with ACTUAL REAL FOOD, like bread, or rolls, or cookies, or pies.

memories1Hmmm… I don’t think I knew the word “homogenous” at the time. If I did, though, it was because my Mom taught me. she was well educated in the ways of organic chemistry, and explained lots of fascinating stuff to me about how yeast worked, and gluten chains, and how soap works (cleaning is too part of cooking! to my great chagrin).

Unfortunately, we kids were a lot of work. Also shocking, I know. I remember at one point that my Mom seemed to be extra tired all the time. In my defense, I think she may have been pregnant with her third or fourth kid at the time. She just didn’t seem to have as much time or energy to fritter the day away making cookies with me in the kitchen. But that certainly didn’t stop me from asking.

One day, she was lying on her bed with one arm draped over her head trying to shade her eyes, but I wanted to make cookies. Alas, I was not the caring and sensitive man I am … still trying to become. I’m sure I used all my little-kid wiles to coax her into some kitchen fun, but she just couldn’t muster the energy. So she finally said, “How about YOU make some chocolate-chip cookies?”

memories3

“But I don’t know how!”

“That’s okay, I’ll tell you what to do.”

“But I don’t know how!”

“It’s okay. Just go get the big mixing bowl out of the closet and put it on the counter,” [editorial note: yes, she really did have to be that specific] “and then come back.”

So I did. And then she told me to get two cubes of margarine out of the refrigerator and put them into the bowl. I did, and then came back. Then she told me to get the white sugar out, and to find the one-cup measure, and to measure a cup out, and put it in the bowl. I did, and then came back. Then for the brown sugar.

memories4This went on for some time, with some confusion at some points, but generally making it through. For some hard mixing parts, I actually brought the bowl to her in her bedroom and she helped do the hard stirring. (My mom was STRONG; she could totally cream cold butter out of the fridge! With nothing but a spoon! Wow!)

And that’s how I learned to make chocolate-chip cookies.I don’t know the recipe by heart anymore. And I think perhaps in my mind I may have coalesced several experiences and maybe forgotten some unpleasant parts involving gross mistakes on my part, but I didn’t have a journal back then and that’s how I remember it now, so that might as well be how it was, to me anyway.

memories2

What were your special times when you were small? What did your parents do with you that you loved? That made you feel special? That was fun?

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Primary Sidebar

Buy the Books!

Drops of Awesome Journal

Inspiration Straight to Your Inbox

Visit Us On FacebookVisit Us On TwitterVisit Us On PinterestVisit Us On YoutubeVisit Us On LinkedinCheck Our Feed
523 Ways to Be Awesome
Bucket of Awesome

Other Places to Find Me

Amazon Author Page
Familius (My Publisher - Best Place for Bulk Book Orders)
How Does She?
Parenting
I'm a Mormon

Life on the Instagram

[instagram-feed]

So Many Drops

  • November 2020
  • February 2019
  • December 2018
  • March 2018
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • May 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005

Copyright © 2025 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress