When people start talking about politics around me, I tend to get a little, well, worked up.

Katie from Boot Scoot Bikes is offering a free ‘Zoomer’ Balance bike (for kids ages 2-5). The highest bidder can choose from two colors: Grass Green or Sky Blue. My youngest has one of these and he LOVES it. Thanks Katie!
For bidding instructions, go here.

Got a baptism coming up (or a wedding or your parent’s anniversary)?  Then you definitely need a video of all those growing-up, growing-old photos.
This auction is for 50 photos or slides turned into a DVD (complete with music, titles, the whole shebang).  Normally most places charge $1.50 to $3.00 per photo for this service, so [...]

Because every baby needs a pair of legwarmers, or three…
This auction item is for three pairs of baby legwarmers, similar to those sold here. You specify if you want them for a boy, a girl or some of both, and if you have any general preferences for style and color. Then I’ll scour the stores [...]

I am completely enamored of skincare. And, if I do say so myself, I have really great skin. I like to make a lot of my beauty supplies and these two items are the stars in my beauty arsenal: One is an Eye Salve to wear at night. It’s made of shea butter, [...]

Do you have any DVDs, video games or CDs that skip and stutter or simply won’t play? Then I’ve got just the thing:
10 of your discs completely resurfaced. Not just cleaned, but given an entire facelift. Just about any scratch can be removed. Discs will play like new again. How [...]

Hot off the presses! Official release date not until September 17th! Authors include Heather Oman of MMW, Kathryn Soper, Sharlee Glenn, Cjane, and many more. We’ll gather as many author signatures as we can before we mail it.
*****for bidding instruction, see here.

Baklava made by a flesh-and-blood 100% Greek person (Kathy Soper) from a recipe handed down from her grandmother.  I would sell my first child for a batch of this stuff.  It’s THAT GOOD.
*****For bidding instructions, go here

*****For bidding instructions, go here
Three signed books for one bid! Just What Mama Needs (Harcourt 2008) will be featured on an upcoming episode of the Emmy-winning PBS kids’ show, Between the Lions. Keeping Up With Roo (Putnam 2004) was the winner of the 2006 Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award. One in a [...]

“Skin Deep” 11×14 (Or whatever size works best in your space)

Printed on canvas, picture is wrapped around the frame. Can be hung as-is or framed for a more traditional look. Taken in Bellagio, Italy and Vienna, Austria by yours truly.
*****for bidding instructions, go here

Signed copy of Angela Hallstrom’s Bound on Earth . I reviewed the book at Blog Segullah here. Now start bidding!!!!
*****for bidding instructions, go here

Inspired (as usual) by DesignMom , we’re hosting an auction to benefit Stephanie and Christian Nielson who were seriously injured in a plane crash a couple of weeks ago. Maybe you know NieNie from her fantastic blog? Or Cjane (her sis) from her writing here at Blog Segullah? If so (or not), [...]

My entire life has been spent in utter dread that one day I would be called to Primary.
I should explain that I have never really liked kids. I was not the teenager who baby sat because she loved being with children (just the greenbacks, please.) I was not the girl who wanted to hold your [...]

This is another guest post by the lovely Michelle, who you can also find here.
Note: Although this is written with my friend’s permission I have chosen to replace her real name with “Kate”—a wholly Christian name that I love. Apostate “a person who renounces a religious belief or principle” is her chosen term because she [...]

“Cadmus - too heavy.
Caesar – too Roman.
Cailan- too common.
Cain - too damned.
Caldwell- too last-namish.
Caleb – Hey, I think I like that name.” I looked up at my husband over my bulging stomach and the Best Baby Name Book resting on top. His mouth was wide open. “What do you think?” [...]

Yesterday I was witness to some amazing things: Hope in action. Strength of home and family. An outpouring of love and faith. The energy and force for good that can be created when two communities–real and virtual–come together in one heart and mind. Helping hands, embracing arms and loving hearts. More and more thoughts and [...]

I guess I should have warned them.

I am the ward Temporal Prepardness person, which means I go to the cannery. A lot. I am on a first name basis with the guy who runs it. The last time I went, which was yesterday, I picked up 229 empty cans, corresponding metal and plastic lids, oxygen absorbers, and about [...]

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states that in attempting to measure the position of a particle the position of the particle becomes uncertain – that making a measurement alters the particle being measured. A corollary to this is the Observer’s Paradox, which states that the observation of an event or experiment is influenced by the presence [...]

My daughter attended her first day of middle school on Monday. I’ve been in minor crisis about it for weeks. All anyone has told me is how awful middle school is, how the choices we faced in high school and college (drugs, drinking, sex, etc.) are now the choices of middle school. My girl is [...]

This is another guest post by Michelle.
My 20th high school reunion is 3 days away and unless I believe those tabloid diets it’s too late to lose those pesky ten pounds. Honestly, I don’t care anymore.

Last testimony meeting, one of my favorite people in our ward got up to talk. She cuts a bold figure into the crowd, statuesque, funny, lovely, an actress. When she got up to speak into the microphone, there was a palpable shift in the energy of the congregation as everyone sat up taller, eager to [...]

‘Brigham Young guessed publicly that there was a lot more singing and dancing in heaven than in hell, and he saw no reason why the saints should imitate the hot place.’
–Wallace Stegner’s ‘Mormon Country’, page 18 of the 2003 paperback edition.

I sat at the kitchen table with my dear friends. We were mulling over summer vacations, playing through the various events that had transpired, musing about next summer’s destinations. (well, as an aside, it should be noted that I was merely smiling at everyone jealously, not having actually left my house all summer long)(well, except [...]

While I was gone on vacation last week, my husband decided to organize the filing cabinet in our study. He pulled out everything in all of the drawers and put them in piles on the computer desk and the surrounding floor. Then he quit. That was six days ago. I have a bad habit of [...]

I have six children and these days that’s very unusual. I don’t live in Utah currently, but I did until last year and even there six or more kids is kind of uncommon. Most sane people stop at four. Occasionally you find a fiver out there. But very few mothers in their 30’s have more [...]

Even though the clock showed 11:10 and the bread had just been passed, it felt like high noon in the foyer.

This is the first in a series of guest posts from Michelle.
Michelle Lehnardt never folds laundry and her car is a mess. She runs through the streets of Salt Lake City, UT, takes lots of photos, plays Uno with her 5 fabulous boys and buys way too many dresses for the little princess. Her husband [...]

Last year at this time, I was in a frenzy. My dad’s parents were a month away from celebrating their sixtieth anniversary, and my grandma wanted to have a big party. A really BIG party. She decided it would be fun to have the shindig at a little place about an hour down the road [...]

Don’t touch my stuff.
I’ve got very strong feelings about it.

I.
In late July of 1989 my husband and I moved into a basement apartment in a nice neighborhood in the foothills of Provo. I was already nine months pregnant, but not nigh unto delivery. We moved from a married student ward into a family ward and it was like we were completely invisible. The ward [...]