What's In Your Pockets?

I just want to clarify yet another reason why I think raising children is like taking care of the mentally insane. Today while doing laundry, mounds and mounds, I was forced to go through dozens of pockets. Today wasn't any different than any other day so I thought I'd share what I have found in those itty bitty little pockets of my children.
-rocks (all sizes and shapes, most likely picked up from the creek)
-dandelions
-lots of candy wrappers(no doubt, candy I had no idea they ate)
-chapsticks (that have been twisted up and down and smashed into the cap)
-old bandaids (I don't even want to know if they belonged to my child)
-legos and legos and more legos
-a note from a teacher that their class has been exposed to Strep Throat (lovely)
-twist ties (over 50) from the food bin section at the grocery store
-And an occasional evil crayon that can ruin a dryer and clothes in less than 30 minutes

Recently a lip balm had escaped my search and ended up in the dryer. Our clothes had oil stains all over them. I was so mad. But my husband had the perfect thing to say, "You've GOT to check their pockets before you wash them!" I think they have a room waiting for me at the crazy house.

Breakfast in Bed

Good Friday to you all. I woke up to a wonderful morning of breakfast in bed, creatively made by my 8 and 5 year old. They cheerfully woke me up and demanded I eat what they made me right away. If it was a bagel or toast it would have been fine, but that wasn't on the menu this morning. Instead I got a large bowl full of chopped strawberries, a couple of banana chunks, and tons of white chocolate chips all drenched in chocolate syrup and honey. Yum. I nervously took a bite while looking into my son's huge blue eyes and at his chocolate laced mouth. Then he told me, "We're sharing breakfast." And we did.

The Easter Bunny is Coming to Town...In a Convertable!

I had just a little time left in my crazy week to make these for S and E's class for the Easter festivities. I saw them in a magazine and thought, "how hard could these be?" Well the answer is very! First of all they require 6 different candies/items and frosting. Second of all, who knew how difficult it would be to find Lifesavers candies. I had to go to 3 different stores to find them. And don't look too close because some of the bunnies couldn't sit in their seat for the ride and began to slide sideways. The kids had fun unwrapping the candy, counting the leftovers and eating them. Let's hope the rest of their class does too.

It's My Party and I'll Bark If I Want to!

Birthday Girl, Jessie, Turns 2 today. To celebrate we got out her party hat and collar.

And we got a special dog treat from a dog specialty store just for today. Just like one of the kids, she licked all the frosting off first and then devoured the cookie. Now if we can keep her from eating the hat it will have been a great 2nd birthday.

Brace Face

Ew! Now she almost looks like a teenager. Ew! Her father and I laugh because she was so stinkin' giddy about getting them. She could not wait for today to come. We'll see how she's feeling later on when she' begging for an advil. Good news is they will be off in 18 months. Bad news is she is wearing her dad's new car in her mouth. Lucky for us we got the "payment plan" which will also work as our reminder to keep those teeth healthy and away from sticky foods. We're also hoping the braces will work as a boy deterent as well, but that's a stretch. I think we can ask for the head-gear if necessary :)

E Turns Eight

E really enjoyed her 8th birthday will all her friends. She picked to have a Hello Kitty Cupcake birthday which all started with stationery we found at the Sanrio store. I saw the giant cupcake pan in a magazine and I knew it would be perfect. It really didn't take that long to frost it and add few sprinkles. At the party each of the girls got to decorate their own cupcake with all sorts of frostings and sprinkles. And we lucked out with the great weather as you can see below. Our family party is this Sunday and I'll post a pic of that cupcake later.

The Birthday Cake

After going to a few local bakeries and researching a custom birthday cake for my dad's 70th birthday, I came to the conclusion that I was going to have to pay $300 or make the cake myself. I've made a few birthday cakes in the past and always made my dad's German chocolate cake for his birthdays. I just had to think on a bigger scale...like for 50 people instead of 10.I was really nervous using fondant for the first time. I didn't know if it was going to crack on me or bleed the edible gold paint into the cookie "watch". It took 3 days to make the cake in stages and then on Saturday morning I finished the writing and put the pocket watch on it. My hands were literally shaking as I lifted the gold chain onto the cake. The cake weighed over 10lbs. My mom loved it and so did my dad. I didn't even mind cutting it. The frosting was delish and so was the filling with coconut and pecans. Nothing is worse than finding half eaten plates of cake when you knew how much love and effort went into. I am happy to report that everyone had their cake and ate it too.