Category Archives: parenting

Angry Bird Cakes

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My boys recently had a combined birthday party and they requested an Angry Birds Cake.

Actually they requested a cake with angry bird lacrosse players who were shooting goals on opponents. It’s nice that they think so highly of my cake decorating skills but I said no. Instead we compromised with… 3 Angry Bird cakes.

Thanks to my good friend Duncan Hines the cakes were made in a jiffy.

I used one of my favorite baking tools…since I always have good results with it.

For the frosting layer, I went simple again by using frosting from a can. Place a desired amount of frosting in a bowl, add coloring, stir, and spread with an icing spatula.

Love, love, love this coloring. I always buy it at the cake shop (which has a retail section).

After frosting cakes, I always place them in the fridge to let the icing set a bit. I also drop the temperature in the house by about ten degrees since warm frosting is impossible to work with. (I place the cake in the fridge after each different color frosting is applied.)

To get the oval shape for the white bird I cut pieces of cake and added them to the circle cake. Putting frosting between the different sections helps hold them together.

Now onto the fancy frosting with an unfancy tool.

I like to use a metal icing tip and place it inside a ziplock bag which has a small hole cut out of the side. Simply place the icing into the bag, twist the bag, and start frosting.

For the larger sections of color I simply place the icing all over and then smooth with the spatula.

For the bird feathers I cut shapes out of black card stock and pushed them into the sides of the cake.

And for my most important tip…if you have a “helper,” be sure to provide her with her own cake and frosting bag.

Here she is actually frosting blueberry muffins since her decorated cake had already disappeared into her tummy and I needed some more time.

The final products – Red Bird, Green Pig, and White Bird.

Old

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Last weekend Caroline and I were at the playground during Alex’s lacrosse practice.

She was quite content to just swing and swing.

After awhile, two little girls walked up and got on the swings to her left.

Caroline proceeded to talk to them and they proceeded to ignore her.

One little girl told the other she was five.

The second little girl said, “Oh, I’m six.”

Caroline then said, “I’m fa-ree,” while holding up her three little fingers.

No response from them.

So I said, “Yes, Caroline. You are three.”

She ignored me and looked at the girls again.

With a flick of the wrist in my direction, she then said …..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“And this is my mom. She’s not fa-ree. She’s old.”

 

Frommage

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I was driving home from piano lessons with my children in the car.

My six year old shouted, “Mom, I smell pizza.”

I had just silently farted.

Sure brings new meaning to the phrase, “cutting the cheese.”

 🙂

I love you because…

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One of  my Januaray goals was to hang the “I love you because” signs which I bought from Kiki Creates when she was having an “oops sale.”

The defect in the prints turned out to be the white rim around them. Eventually I will add a little black border to cover that up, but hey, they went up in January and it’s still not done so don’t hold your breath.

I bought cheap IKEA frames to display them on the wall (I think the frames were $3 for a pair).

the view coming down our stairs – everyone sits on the stairs to put their shoes on so I thought this would be the perfect spot.

Current and previous entries…

“you love to dress up”

“you love to have stories read to you”

“you love your brothers”

“your laugh is contagious”

“you have a passion for animals”

“you have found a love of reading”

“Your smile makes me smile”

“You love to listen to NPR with me”

“You are a wonderful big brother”

The kids immediately notice when a new reason has been posted so it’s fun to listen and watch them discuss it. Which reminds me, I need to go write something new right now.

*Here’s Kiki’s original post which inspired me to put these prints up in our house*

$11.90

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How would you spend $11.90 if you had it?

11 $1 items at McDonald’s?

4 pairs of socks?

 1 lunch with the ladies?

Here’s how my 3 year old spends $11.90 when I’m in the shower…

Next time I’m just going to take a sponge bath…think of all the money it will save me.

Florence

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Tomorrow I’m flying to California to see my sister who is also flying in for the weekend trip.

We are going to the Florence and the Machines concert on Saturday night.

While it’s exciting and a very needed trip, I have some serious concerns.

You see, the last concert I went to involved the performers singing the wheels on the bus and the audience eating goldfish crackers,  all the while sitting on picnic blankets.

My adult concert etiquette is just out of date.

So for this weekend I’m wondering….

What does one wear to a concert now a days?

Based on the newspaper stand magazines I’m thinking leopard stilettos and a mini skirts?

What time does a concert start?

It probably starts at eleven at night. That’s a good two hours past when I’m usually asleep, throw in the two hour time difference…oh boy, I might be in trouble.

Is this one of those concerts where everyone stands?

Since I’ll already be tired I was kind of hoping for one of those “sit on the sofa and put your feet up” kind of experiences. Maybe I’ll have to substitute some sensible shoes for the stilettos.

Regardless of what I wear (now my sister is worried – Please don’t show up in mom jeans!) or how late I’m up I know I’ll have a great time.

Hope your weekend is rockin’ too!

Easter Synopsis Part 2

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Let’s see, where were we when we last left off…

7:24 am – Oldest Bunny decides to change attitude

7:27 am – Shoes are on and baskets are empty – let the games begin. First up, the front yard.

7:38 am – The backyard. Happiness overtakes sleepiness when candy bar is found.

7:39 am – “There’s even an egg up here!”

7:47 am – The examination begins.

This is the dumper. Each egg is opened and emptied into a pile.

The examiner. Each egg is opened. Looked at. And closed again. The candy will be removed at each eating session. This technique is quite frustrating to Momma Bunny when she’s searching for a quick treat in the pantry.

The Eater. Open an egg. Eat whatever’s inside – all of it – as fast as you can.

8:02 am – Yep, she’s still eating.

8:25 am – Momma Bunny jumps into the shower throwing Dad the kids outfits, yelling that they need to leave in 35 minutes if they are to get to the 9:15 service.

8:30 am – 8:55 am – Pleading, negotiating, threatening all take place.

9:14 am – Bunny family slides into pews two rows from the back.

9:17 am – Momma Bunny pulls out a pad of paper and a pen for Littlest Bunny to play with.

9:19 am – Momma Bunny is tracing Littlest Bunny’s hand for entertainment.

9:24 am – 30 pieces of paper later Littlest Bunny decides she needs a new distraction so Momma Bunny pulls out some magnets and paper clips.

9:26 am – The priest tells all of the children of the church to answer him this question, “Doesn’t the church look beautiful now with all of the flowers in it?”

Middle Bunny shouts out, “No!”

Momma Bunny quickly brings her hand to Middle Bunny’s mouth while Poppa Bunny gives him a stern look.

9:28 am – Oldest Bunny and Middle Bunny start arguing over who gets to hold the hymnal so Momma Bunny takes hers and gives it to the Middle Bunny. Momma Bunny and Poppa Bunny just stand now and move their mouths as if to show they have memorized every Easter song.

9:30 am – Littlest Bunny starts talking loudly. She is escorted to the front yard by Poppa Bunny for a prolonged botany lesson.

9:58 am – Church is over and Momma Bunny is ready to leave. Unfortunately, Littlest Bunny has been outside for the last 30 minutes watching the egg hunt being set up so there is no chance of that.

10:04 – Littlest Bunny mentally prepares for the challenge ahead.

10:05 – Middle Bunny and Oldest Bunny talk strategy with the Littlest Bunny for the hunt. There is talk of pushing and shoving if deemed necessary.

10:08 am – The hunt begins. Littlest Bunny is not keeping her eyes on the prize.  This frustrates Middle Bunny and Oldest Bunny who are doing their best to form a human wall discouraging other Bunnies from snatching eggs in the vicinity.

10:11 am – The victory walk.

10:14 am – Champions Easter egg hunters

10:30 am – Bunny family arrives home.

10:31 am – All designated Easter clothing has been stripped off and thrown to the ground by little bunnies.

10:32 am – Momma and Poppa Bunny tell the bunnies to go put some clothes on and stay upstairs. Momma and Poppa Bunny have designated this time as mandatory quiet time.

10:33 am – The Bunny children just laugh at their parents. They know their sugar high will last until right before dinnertime when all three will meltdown at the same time at the sight of their dinner.

Easter 2012 is deemed a success!

An Easter Synopsis

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9:00 – 10:00 pm Easter Eve – Momma & Poppa Bunny fill Easter eggs with candy, check to make sure the gifts (books, coloring books, card games, stickers are equal).

10:05 pm Easter Eve – Momma Bunny complains her stomach hurts from eating so much Easter candy already.

10:06 pm Easter Eve – Popppa Bunny is not sympathetic and says, “Well that candy was for the children.”

10: 15 pm Easter Eve – Momma & Poppa Bunny watch the news due to rain possibility.

5:30 am Easter morning – Alarm goes off in Momma & Poppa’s room

5:35 am – Momma & Poppa Bunny check the online weather report. Debate over next move due to lots of green on the radar.

5:37 am – Momma & Poppa Bunny go to the front of the house and put out eggs for littlest bunny.

5:40 am – Momma & Poppa Bunny proceed to the back yard where they lay out eggs for the boy bunnies.

5:46 am – Momma Bunny writes note to little bunnies explaining the layout of the hunt.

5:47 am – Poppa Bunny goes back to bed. Momma Bunny takes dog for a walk since the backyard is now a “No Pooping Zone.

5:59 am – Dog poops on lawn three blocks from home. Momma Bunny surveys the area for any witnesses. Debates about possibly leaving poop on the lawn due to the fact that’s it’s dark outside and no one will know. Momma Bunny begrudgeonly picks up poop.

6:10 am – Momma Bunny and dog return home. Momma Bunny turns on the tv and sits on the sofa.

6:15 am – Momma Bunny has to tell dog for millionth time that she cannot go outside until all the kids wake up.

6:20 am – Momma Bunny retrieves the newspaper and sits on the sofa again.

6:50 am – Middle bunny comes downstairs ready to begin Easter hunt. Eagerly looks out window yelling, “I see one!.” Momma Bunny bursts his bubble when she says he will have to wait another 20 minutes before waking up other bunnies.

6:51 am – Momma Bunny suggests he look for a note to see if the Bunny left instructions about how the yard has been divided.

6:52 am – Middle Bunny finds note. Reads it and notices one bunny has been left off the list while another bunny has been given two sections of the yard.

6:53 am – Momma Bunny curses to herself for writing the note in the dark and quickly explains that the Bunny must have meant something else.

6:54 am – Middle Bunny asks if the note was written by Momma Bunny since it’s on the back of a bingo card.

6:55 am – Momma curses again but says the Bunny must have used whatever paper was available. Vows to buy special paper next year.

7:15 am – Momma Bunny tells Poppa Bunny it’s time to get up. Poppa Bunny looks at the clock and gives Momma Bunny an ugly look.

7:15 and fifteen seconds am – Momma give Poppa a dirty look hoping to convey her wish that he enjoyed his extra hour and a half of sleep.

7:20 am – Littlest Bunny and Poppa Bunny stumble out of bedroom. Littlest Bunny was ready to hunt at 2 am but was persuaded to sleep in Momma & Poppas bed as a consolation prize until morning.

7:22 am – Oldest Bunny stumbles downstairs complaining of lost sleep.

7:23 am – Momma & Poppa explain to oldest bunny that he can go back to sleep and in doing so relinquishes all rights to his candy.

7:24 am – Oldest Bunny decides to have a better attitude.

Continued on Thursday 🙂

Easter Mess

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Two days ago we had tornadoes come through the Dallas Metroplex.

Around 2:00 the sky started to look ominous. My oldest was home sick so I went to see if I could get my six year old out of school a little early. I was told the school was on lock down due to the tornado threats; no children were being released. I went back home and watched the news coverage for the next hour, all the while listening to our city’s tornado sirens. I knew my six year old was safe in the school but it was quite nerve racking to not have him in my sight during this time.

Roughly an hour after school should have let out, the school starting releasing students. I picked up my son who enthusiastically told of being stuck in the teacher’s bathroom for an hour with his class. (In my mind, his teacher should receive Teacher of the Year for being in a bathroom for an hour with twenty-two kindergarteners – can you even imagine?)

So… because of the storm…our night activities were cancelled…so….we were able to do two Easter “crafts.”

First off, dying Easter eggs (and yes, Caroline does not have clothes on, it’s cleaner this way for everyone).

Notice the fingers…that’s what happens when your technique for dying the eggs is completely hands on.

Once the eggs were dried, it was time to decorate with stickers.

Just because it was time didn’t mean it actually occurred.

Apparently, peeling your eggs was more fun (I’m looking at it from the perspective that it was a scientific learning experience).

My six year old said, “Oh yuck! These smell like rotten cheese! No, wait. They smell like rotten ham!”

Just for the record, he has never been served either one of those options.

For our second craft of the night, I thought it would be fun to create some No Bake Chocolate Egg Nests which I saw on the Chef in Training blog.

This is what we were going for…

but this is what we ended up with…

but we sure had fun making them…

although I’m not sure if anyone but Mom really completed any nests…

since they were too busy “cleaning up.”

Easter Mess

=’s

Easter Fun

Old Timey

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My husband and nine year old went to a hockey game with my son’s friend and his dad.

The friend was asking all kinds of questions to his dad.

“What year did the Stars first have a team? Why do the referees where black and white stripes? What’s the most popular kind of skate used by the players?”

The dad turned around and said to his son, “What do you think I am?…An encyclopedia?”

The friend scrunched up his face and said, “What’s an encyclopedia?”

Alex, ever the knowledgeable one said, “It’s sort of like an old timey Wikipedia.”