A Peek at my Pandemic Season

Celebrating:

I took our old camcorder videos to have them transferred to DVDs (am supposed to get them back today, in fact). Our library offers use of a machine for transferring VHS to DVD for free, but it has been closed since the lockdown started and besides, you must sit there at the machine throughout the lengthy process. While viewing the mini-camcorder tapes to discern chronological order, I viewed a bit of Bryce's birth video (not the actual birthing process, of course, but the preliminary days as my belly expanded and the initial days of his welcome home). John taped me on my 31st birthday, with infant Bryce lying on my chest and me piping up with "This is the best birthday present - to hold my newborn."

This past weekend, I celebrated my 55th birthday. Again, the best birthday present? Having my 24-year-old son home from Texas for a week-long visit! He drove all the way from Houston to see us and brought gifts: a set of my favorite colored pens for journaling and a copy of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. I was tardy in placing my name on the library's hold list and dreaded waiting for 30 others to use their 3 week turn. Both Sean and I will enjoy the book. I also appreciated John's gifts (a t-shirt that reads "At times I think to myself, 'Drop the book and get stuff done!' Then, I laugh and turn the page." Plus, a new Sony CD player - much needed for my treadmill listening). We had a cook-out and DQ ice cream cake for dessert. It was fun to combine our celebrations, as we gave Bryce his belated birthday gifts.

We're laughing because I had to stand on the hearthstone in order to get my face close enough to his (he's almost 6'2") - ha!

Virtual Viewing:

Carey Nieuwhof wrote an interesting article outlining 7 new disruptive church trends. I can attest to 1 detail. Instead of viewing my home church's service, I tend to view Salvation Army services (often the Oakbrook Terrace corps service, where my brother and his family attend and where my nephew and his wife serve on the worship team). In addition, I seek the sermons of great preachers and apologists. This week, I've sought the convicting and inspiring words of Ravi Zacharias. A brilliant and articulate champion of the faith, Ravi died of cancer last week. If you have the time, I highly recommend this 12 minute video sharing some of his final thoughts:


Two longer (35-40 minute), but worthy investments of time: His Passion conference sermon and a sermon from Gateway Church, both from January 2020. I've also been watching the sermons of Dr. David Jeremiah. This 4 minute snippet of Dr. Jeremiah's sermon outlining all the positive results from past times of sheltering is encouraging:



When not listening to sermons, I relish Salvation Army brass banding fare. Here's a virtual performance of the Salvation Army song, "I'll Stand for Christ":



And I don't know if this Facebook video link will work (not sure what the poster has for privacy settings), but an outstanding performance of "Day by Day".

Close-up Viewing:

I bought a cedar bluebird feeder for John and he put it up in his bird sanctuary behind the house:

For days, it sat untouched, so John removed the plexiglass. Although I've seen a bird or two swoop in, grab seed, and fly away, this is primarily what I see when I sit at my upstairs desk (not the new desk), gazing out the window:

We get plenty of goldfinches, house finches, indigo buntings, bluejays, cardinals, orioles, hummingbirds, and woodpeckers:

I've also seen a fox (didn't capture photos) and a brown baby mink right up on the stones, catching a chipmunk, but the photo is unclear, and when I tried to crop it (mink in mddle of photo), it only blurred:

Thankfully, he came back (just now) and I captured some clearer shots:

Usually, we only see raccoons, skunks, opossums, and deer. Plus, I noticed a part-albino squirrel that lives in a nearby tree (full white tail, white underbelly, and four white paws - again no photos).

Purging:

Despite the sentiment on my new t-shirt, I applied myself to get something done and weeded through Sean's and my clothes. I know they were favorites, but did I really think I'd get back into those size 8 pants someday? We sent about ten bags to Goodwill, much to my husband's delight (oh, how that man loves to purge and re-organize).

Pondering:

After viewing videos of my days in DeKalb (prior to our move to IN when Bryce was 10) and reminiscing on my days in Oxford (thanks to a gentle stirring from a memoir), I've been pondering the irretrievable loss of my former self. I used to be intrepid: flew to NY without a job or housing lined up, walked across Harlem alone on a Saturday morning, seized whatever opportunities came my way, including the Wheaton-in-England program where I studied at Oxford). I used to be unflappable, handling unexpected changes with grace and understanding. Aggressive and driven, I had so many goals and dreams and wasn't the slightest bit intimidated by any of them. I handled any shifting path. Now, as John likes to say, I'm fragile. I don't rebound when difficulties arise, or handle stresses or changes in expectations. I'm nervous and easily irritated. I'm fearful and pessimistic.

At the beginning of the pandemic, I worried shortages might limit access to the medication for my clinical depression, so I began taking it every other day, until John insisted I go back to my normal dosage. All of that to say, I'm deeply saddened by my altered personality. Yet, no matter how much I wish to go back to the person I once was, I can see she's gone for good. If I had to pinpoint the alteration, it coincided with the isolation and identity-shift stemming from our move to Indiana and the birth of my last son at age 41. After almost fourteen years of this altered reality, I may never go back to being more adventurous than anxious, more driven than despairing, or more fearless than fragile. If I had known I was crossing the Rubicon, would I have entered the boat? R.I.P., old Wendy. Just know, you are sorely missed!

90th Birthday Celebration

My husband comes from hearty stock! His grandmother lived to 92 and his mother celebrated her 90th birthday on Veteran's Day. She is healthier than most who live to be her age. No walkers! No canes! Few memory issues and minimal nuisance health complaints. Still as feisty as ever!

Most of the family (minus a few grandkids - 2 in colleges in Colorado and Washington, 2 who, as grown adults, work in distant states, and 1 who lives in Estonia) gathered to celebrate this grand achievement. She is thriving in her new apartment in a retirement community where she knows many other individuals. The facility is magnificent. I would welcome a visit anytime as they have an extensive library in the building and even a small puzzle nook. We enjoyed a family dinner in one of their private dining halls on Saturday evening:

Sunday morning, we all attended her Salvation Army corps (John and I even played in the band). The corps officer did a fine job of recognizing my mother-in-law's impact: first, she had all family members stand, then all individuals who had been touched in any way by Marilyn's generosity, witness, or influence. While my mother-in-law doesn't welcome attention drawn to herself, I think it was evidence of her intense desire to serve others.

After the service, church members gathered to celebrate her and enjoy cake together:

Several posters highlighted her full life. My boys reveled in one particular photo from the 80s, where John's hair is wavy and full - ha! Jill and her husband Bob arrived in time for us all to enjoy one more meal together in celebration (they had a wedding and couldn't make it for the first family meal on Saturday):

After a hushed word with the waitress, they brought out a huge dessert. But, I'm sure, the best gift of all for her was the joy of having so many family members gathered together in one place (something that doesn't happen often enough on my husband's side of the family).

Celebrating the Birthday Boy

This is the first year that I felt I managed to give Trevor an extraordinary birthday celebration. He always begs for a party, but most years I've just been too exhausted to think about having a party for him. This year, I promised that he could invite six kids. He invited half boys and half girls. I think this was a mistake because none of the girls attended and thus his party was kind of small. However, I didn't mind the small size. It turned out to be a lot of fun and only moments of stress.

Trevor wanted this skull and crossbones cake that he saw on-line:


(photo taken from the coolest cakes site).

As you can see, mine didn't quite make the grade. For starters, I failed to cut the skull portion of the cake to reflect skull shape (left it mostly round). Then, I decided to use wax paper beneath the cake (as seen on so many tutorials). Alas, I used large pieces and when I went to remove them, they shifted the cake so that the fragile bone sections and the right portion of the face shifted, creating a landslide of frosting (a frosting-slide?):

The two boys who came brought presents that were perfect for Trevor. One boy brought a gross zombie drink kit and the other boy brought a ton of drawing supplies (paper, clipboard, colored pencils).

The boys seemed to enjoy the simple games we planned as well. We started with a bean bag toss which we called "Haunt the Ship" (since we used the ghost bean bags we had made for his Kindergarten Halloween party last year). Trevor drew the ship on foam board.

Then, the boys played "Sink the Ships," attempting to get the most ping pong balls in two pirate ships.


I think their favorite game of all (and the one that led to some stress because the boys got pretty wound up) was the target practice game. We lined stuffed animals up on the book bar and had the boys take turns trying to shoot them down with a dart gun. Eventually, we realized that the game was far easier when we used the ghost bean bags. I think they may have beaned each other a time or two, as well.


We finished with a treasure hunt for the goodie bags.

Trevor loved the gifts he received from us, as well. It seemed like they were a bunch of little things (some even thrift store finds), but all things he loved. He was especially thrilled by the black book he received from his dad. He has shifted his artistic development from drawing skulls and monsters to a dedicated focus on graffiti writing. He watches endless You Tube videos of graffiti artists who draw in these special black books.

My gift was also extra special. I responded to a Vistaprint ad and secured 250 business cards with his blog name on them. I also purchased a pen which says "Monsters and Art - by Trev." He was thrilled to take them to school to pass them out this morning.

Finally, he's super thrilled with the Halloween door curtain:

All in all, it was a very special birthday for a very special boy!

Last Cake

Trevor had a fabulous birthday. He was not disappointed in the least (despite not getting the skateboard with the skull on the bottom of it, which he talked about non-stop the last few days before his birthday arrived).

Normally, I look forward to making a cake for my little guys. This time around, I think I finished with a bad taste in my mouth (and I don't mean that the cake didn't taste good ... it did). It was just that every step of the way seemed fraught with anxiety.

Trevor was very specific about his cake design. He wanted to draw the illustration for the front of the cake. Given his fixation on skulls lately, it was not surprising to see what he came up with:



Next, came my task of recreating that picture. I placed his drawing on my baking stone and covered it with waxed paper. I did the best I could to trace his outline lines, however the flames and teeth were quite tricky (too small for drawing with a frosting tip).

What a frosting bag fiasco it turned out to be! When I went to fill the frosting bags, they smelled like rancid oil. It was a nauseatingly strong smell.

I decided to try the Ziploc bag approach. Within one minute, the bag burst and frosting globs spilled onto the wax paper. I was so thankful that I was working on wax paper and could merely wipe it up and start again.

My husband had generously purchased a Decorator Bottle Set from a co-worker selling Pampered Chef items, but they required washing before use. Since my vinyl and cloth bags were smelly and the Ziploc option wasn't working, I decided to take the extra time and wash out the decorator bottles.



I was eager to try the new set out, but I found them very difficult to work with. For starters, the opening is so small that you have to use a butter knife or smaller to push the frosting in. I used a Popsicle stick and it felt like it took forever. Normally, I am such a fan of Pampered Chef items, but this one had me frustrated.

(In searching for the photo to include on the blog) I did read some tips. Many individuals find it far easier to fill the bag by scooping the frosting into a baggie and cutting of a tip then pushing into the bottle. The bottles did clean up nicely with the provided brush tool. Plus, many users identified the bottles as helpful for children's use ... so I will hang on to them and use them with the boys. In fact, perhaps I'll just have Trevor do the whole frosting job next time. He's quite the artist. He may just do a better job than I can!)

In the end, I rewashed the vinyl Wilton bags and used them despite the lingering odor.

As for the cake, Trevor wanted an Oreo cake. I decided to forego looking for an Oreo box cake and merely used a recipe from my Betty Crocker cook book and added one cup of crushed Oreos. Sadly, even the cake wasn't cooperating. It stuck in the pan and came out with giant pock marks:



I'm pretty sure all of these dilemmas can be placed squarely on my own shoulders. If I had been on the top of my game, we would have had all the necessary ingredients in time for me to prepare both the frosting and the cake in advance, the freezer would not have been so full of food that we couldn't fit a cake, and I would not have felt too rushed to adequately allow the cake to cool.

Still, there were many times along the way, when I heard the voices in my head arguing about this whole process. For one, as I was adding the food coloring to the frosting, I was thinking about all the damage that these chemical dyes are doing to our children.

As I prepared the cake, the voices were reminding me that the boys would probably have one or two pieces (requesting the skull eyes or flames or something from the middle of the cake) and I would end up eating the entire rest of the cake. This will certainly not help my bid for weight loss.

All in all though, the cake was a big hit with the two little boys ... and they are the ones who matter! Trevor loved his cake and has even had three pieces so far (eating the cake and not just the icing, as he is wont to do, but yes, requesting first the skull eyes and then the flames).


He also loved his presents. I think his favorite thing was a hoodie from Walmart that zips up over the head. He wore it to the doctor's office (he has poison ivy) and jumped out to scare the doctor:



His second favorite thing is the small Bakugan toy and his third favorite would be the spider web glass he is holding in his hand in the picture below:



Of course, after mentally declaring that maybe this will be my last cake, I found this adorable monkey cake over at Smitten Kitchen's blog (oh how I love looking at the tasty foods she whips up effortlessly and photographs flawlessly). Oooh, and the butter cream frosting has no artificial colors. And I've always been a big fan of monkeys. And ... okay, so maybe it is not my "last cake." Six months from now, I'll probably be looking for somebody who wants a monkey cake.

Argh - He's 3-1/2 Mateys!

We celebrated Sean's third half birthday this past weekend. The poor kid's birthday falls a few days after Christmas during family gatherings and a focus on the birth of Christ. Thus, we determined early on that we would celebrate his half birthday, to give him a special day all his own.

I can't say it has worked out as we intended. Originally, we planned for him to receive his birthday cake and one gift on his half birthday. Once Trevor caught on to this plan, he clamored to celebrate his half birthday. I don't mind an occasion to bake a cake to their specifications, because that is something I enjoy creating. However, the gift has gone by the wayside. And, many days, I wonder if we should dispense with this whole half birthday effort. Then again, when he is old enough to have birthday parties (Bryce was having annual birthday parties by this age), I'm sure it will be next to impossible to entice friends to celebrate his birthday during that busy and expensive time of year. This year, he was most excited because our annual trip to Indiana Beach Amusement Park fell on his birthday. We had another wonderful experience with limited crowds and fabulous weather.

I love many things about Indiana Beach. Unlike larger parks, where the crowds and chaos exhaust you, Indiana Beach is laid back and relaxing. I so appreciate their smoke-free atmosphere and the music piped over the intercoms is always family friendly. As we rode the sky chairs (Skyride?), I was singing along with "Hey Jude," and "Yesterday."

Side note: the song "Yesterday" always makes me smile because it reminds me of a year at CMI when some guys wrote a spoof on that, called "Leprosy": "Leprosy ... all my skin is falling off of me, I'm not half the man I used to be, oh leprosy has eaten me ... suddenly, all the vultures flying over me, once I had five fingers, now I've three, oh leprosy has eaten me ... why'd it have to come, I don't know, it just won't go. I tried Elmer's glue, but you know, it wouldn't do-oo-oo-oo."

This year seemed far more expensive. Ticket prices have increased, and you don't get as much bang for your buck. We have always enjoyed going one afternoon, playing games and looking around, then staying overnight in a local hotel and returning for a full day of rides and the water park. I think next year, we will just drive up for one day.

The littler boys don't appreciate splitting the two days up into games and rides. The first evening, they wanted to ride rides. We looked into the cost of a mere train ride for the four of us (Bryce had gone off with his friend to play games). You practically had to pick me up off the floor when they said it would be $8 PER PERSON for a train ride. $32 just to ride the train around the amusement park one time. You've got to be kidding.

They used to have a much more customer friendly approach. You could either pay a set fee for a wristband or you could buy a packet of 10 ride tickets for $20. There are smaller rides for the younger children and this seemed fairly reasonable. We would have been willing to pay $8 for the four of us to ride the train once, but $32 - UNREAL!

Needless to say, we waited and enjoyed all the rides the next day, when we purchased the wristbands. Trevor enjoyed riding the Corn Ball Express roller coaster this year and Sean amazed me when he fell in love with the Falling Star ride . He would get off, run around ahead of me, and get back in line to ride it again. What a little daredevil!

Trevor talks about Indiana Beach all year round. This year, he kept inviting all the other kids in his preschool class to go with him to Indiana Beach. He must be their biggest fan. As we headed home, he asked if we could go again this summer. They offer a season pass now, and when the younger boys are older, I might consider that (although, I would want to pack healthy lunches - since there were even fewer healthy options this year).

For Sean's cake, he requested a Jolly Roger cake. I had recently picked up a Jolly Roger flag for a quarter at a garage sale and both boys fell in love with it (they are fixated on skulls these days).

The cake didn't turn out as I'd hoped, but my boys made me feel so much better when they raved about it. I see all the things that didn't go as planned, while they just see a cool cake. It thrilled me that Sean liked it so much.




Here are my perceived flaws: I used the frozen butter cream transfer process I learned on Amber's blog, only I didn't want to attempt to make black icing. For one thing, it never gets black enough and ends up looking like a dull gray. For another thing, it seemed easier to use chocolate store-bought icing for the dark background and homemade butter cream for the skull and crossbones and words.

The transfer ended up being larger than the top of the cake, so the word happy curved over the edge of the top of the cake. Plus, I didn't get it centered very well. When I went to pull the top piece of waxed paper from the frozen frosting, it would not come off. Apparently, the chocolate icing is stickier, even when frozen, than the butter cream. While removing the waxed paper, I pulled apart some bits of the skull. I suppose it makes the skull look more brittle, as skulls are.

Personally, I didn't care for the mix of flavors with the chocolate and the butter cream together. I encountered this with Trevor's dinosaur cake, so this shouldn't have surprised me (or I shouldn't have repeated the mistake). But, John thought the cake was delicious. As for the boys, they only seem to lick the frosting off and barely nibble at the cake.

I can't believe Sean is already 3-1/2. The time evaporates, but inches by on days when they are mischievous or cranky. He thinks he is one of the big boys now. He tries to read, like Trevor, and he tries to talk "like a teenager," like Bryce. I don't mind the reading, but I could do without the teenage talk from the mouth of a preschooler. I say, "Argh, clean up your mouth, little boy, or ye'll be walkin' the plank!"

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For other Indiana Beach posts, see our 2008 visit, our June 2009 visit, our July 2009 visit, our 2011 visit, and our 2016 visit.

Spurting Spider Cake

Many years ago, when all we had to deal with was one small boy, I used to throw Halloween parties every year. Those were such wonderful times. The kids had a blast and I had such fun planning and executing the parties.

One year, I made a Spurting Spider Cake that was a tremendous hit. I found the idea on-line. You simply make your cake batter and pour it into two bowls - one large and one small. The large cake becomes the abdomen and the small cake, the head of the spider. You cut the large cake in half and round out a well in the inside of each half. Then, you blend up green jello and pour it into the cavity, covering it with the top half. I frosted the cake black (it came out gray - I can never seem to get colors rich enough) and added pipe cleaners for legs. When we cut into the cake, just as promised, the green guts spurted and oozed out of the middle of the cake. It was fantastic.

This year, as we approached Trevor's half birthday, I began to ask what kind of cake he wanted me to make. He requested a brown, hairy tarantula. I suggested a brown, spurting spider cake. He agreed.

Of course, the two little boys were determined to assist me every step of the way. Here is a photo of them enjoying the beaters after we mixed up the buttercream icing:



It didn't exactly turn out as picture perfect as the first spurting spider cake I made. I think last time I must have used two cake mixes. This time, I was trying to cut my husband a break (since he has a wellness screening tomorrow and has been worried that eating too much cake will somehow skew the results, despite the fact that he works out regularly) and so, I only made one cake mix.

When I pulled the cakes out of the oven, it became clear there would be no way to cut the larger cake in half and insert blended jello. Thus, I went back to the
drawing boardkitchen and made another large bowl cake.

I'm pretty sure I also had a different large glass bowl back then, because this one ended up with more of a squared off appearance. It worked much better when I blended, filled and frosted, the morning of the party. This time around, knowing that I would have helpers if I waited until the morning our guests were slated to arrive, I filled and frosted the cake the night before. When we cut into the cake, there was NO SPURTING. The filling had cooled back to a solid form. Anyway, it still looked fine, it just didn't turn out quite as well. The boys didn't mind in the slightest. It was still a big hit!

This is what it looked like after frosting it:



This is what it looked like when we added chocolate licorice legs (far superior to the pipe cleaner legs used for the previous cake, but less stable):


Trevor invited his favorite little friend from school, Evan. Evan's mother brought along Evan's six year old brother, Oscar (whom Trevor also loves). They were feverish in excitement (yes, it would have been impossible to frost the cake, since my husband was away at work that morning). The four boys played inside, then we ate the cake and resumed playing outside.

When Trevor went to bed that night, he declared it "the best day of his life." We put them to bed early, ordered a pizza and actually managed to watch half of a sweet movie ("Ring of Bright Water") before hubby had to head off to bed (he can't do the late nights and I can't do the early mornings). It truly was a really great day!

Alternate Outlets for Dreams

Amy, over at The English Geek, wrote a post recently about what drives some of her quilting urges. For a long time, she was utterly convinced that she would have a second daughter. When her fourth child arrived and was a third son, she began a process of mourning the loss of those dreams for her oft-imagined second daughter. I appreciated how she emphasized that she was in no way unhappy that her fourth was a boy - he was exactly who God intended him to be, but she still grieves the loss of that dream for another daughter.

I still have moments when I am slapped in the face with a gust of wind bearing grief over the daughter I never had. Thankfully, those dreams have had many years of alternate outlets. For example, some of my favorite baby-sitting gigs fulfilled those dreams a bit. When I worked as a counsellor at Camp Hiawatha in Wichita, Kansas, I spent a good portion of each morning french-braiding the girls' hair before we headed off to breakfast. When my husband and I were newly married and childless, we used to borrow two lovely children, Lindsay and Zach, from my friend Marla. I would pop popcorn and we would sit and watch kid movies together.

One of the jobs I have considered for when I return to the work world (when the two little boys are in school full-time) is a children's librarian. I think this job appeals to me because I spend a fair amount of time reading and investigating children's books in my pursuit of writing a successful children's book. But, certainly, part of it is the love I have for sharing good books with kids. How wonderful it would be to have the opportunity to pitch really good girly books. I remember loving the book, The Hundred Dresses, by Eleanor Estes. I just can't imagine any of my boys being willing to explore this book with me.

While I will admit that I have loved making boy themed cakes (especially the "Spurting Spider Cake" which exploded with blended green jello when it was cut!), I am feeling a need for an alternative outlet for those dreams as well. When we were looking for cake ideas for MS, I came across this Betty Crocker how-to video for making a Barbie doll cake.

How to make a princess cake

I have seen these cakes before, but somehow watching the video brought up that old familiar gust of wind and I ached for a little girl. I'm wondering how an alternate outlet will present itself for this dream. Too bad decorated cakes are impossible to ship, otherwise I could hold a give-away. Hee-hee! I guess I'll just have to find some little girl, someday, who is in desperate need of a princess cake, so I can live out the dream this video instills.

One Hand Old

As we approach the big day when my MS will turn 5, it makes me think of my favorite little twins, Coleman and Caden back in December of last year when they celebrated being "one hand old." MS has certainly been thrilled about this event.

I was amazed that he didn't choose a snake cake this time (since snakes are still his favorite thing in the world and he is still begging to receive one). Instead, he asked to look at several cake possibilities on the computer. At first we were looking at reptiles, but then he saw a picture of a dinosaur cake and decided to go with that. He watched the video and emphasized what the demonstrator had said, "it is very easy to make." Thankfully, he was right.



I did panic when I removed the french vanilla cake from the pans. The two 9 inch round cakes turned out to be only one inch thick, which I thought would make for an anorexic dinosaur. Thus, I baked a second cake, in chocolate, and layered both parts. Knowing my MS would request either the head or the tail, I cut those portions from the vanilla cake and made the body from the chocolate cake.

I think I would have liked the placement of the head and tail better if I hadn't been trying to squeeze it onto my transportable cake pan, but since the cake was bound for Chuck E. Cheese's, I scrunched those appendages in (I think it looks too much like a dog-shape, but I'm probably just being too critical). I'm pretty sure MS's favorite part about this cake were the chocolate chip and Hershey kiss decorations. He helped line the back with the Hershey kiss spikes and place them upside down for large spots.

I was a bit anxious about the party because we don't really know anyone very well. MS invited one boy, Devin, from his preschool class last year and two kids, Evan and Andrea, from his preschool class this year. Plus, we invited his old preschool teacher and her three sons (unfortunately, they couldn't come).

I'm often sad to recognize the difference between the experiences of my ES and my two smaller sons. When ES was this age, he had parties full of kids we knew really well. Poor MS and YS, like me, have much fewer friends here in Indiana. I'm sure that will change once they begin elementary school. And, I'm equally convinced that MS was just happy to have a party at CEC.

I was happy to have table duty for the entire evening. Each guest received a goodie bag filled with 25 tokens, two tubs of Play-doh, an airplane and an Airhead. One of the parents mentioned that the place was mobbed when they had their older son's party there earlier in the week. We lucked out and the place was almost empty. I think everyone had a very good time (even though one boy, with food allergies, couldn't eat the pizza or the cake, so he munched on a cookie which his mother had sent along). And, the cake was so delicious that it is almost completely gone already.







When we arrived home, ES handed MS a wrapped present. It was so touching. ES gave MS his old game-boy and games. For the rest of the evening, we couldn't pry that out of his hands.

Tonight, he received another gift that we cannot pry out of his hands. His daddy took him to the pet store to pick out a pet. I was thinking they were going to pick a rabbit, because my husband had told me they were very easy to care for and gentle to hold. They returned home with two white mice. Apparently, the deciding factor was cost. The mice were $1.25 each and the rabbits were $20. But the rabbit cages were far more expensive than the equipment for mice.

Hubby said he requested two females, since the females are more docile. MS had already named them, while in the car on the way home. I laughed out loud when he told me they are "Jessie" and "Sammie." These are the names of two girls who have been ES's girlfriends (and thus, as MS confirms, his girlfriends, too).

Alas, when my hubby took them from the box to place in the newly outfitted aquarium, he noticed that one is a male and one is a female. Just great. Now we will be hosting mice babies, as well. Hubby assures me we can sell them back to the pet store (this is what he did when he was a boy and had pet mice).







MS says the names will stick (although he did almost change the name of the male one to be his own name - ha). At this point, the male is Sammie and the female is Jessie. All three boys are crazy about the new pets. I can see that these first few weeks are going to be challenging, because they seem to want to spend every minute holding the mice. We already lost one under the couch tonight. I made an executive decision at bedtime and decided the mice must sleep on the shelf in the closet at bedtime (I had visions of YS waking in the middle of the night and releasing the mice). At this point, all the boys in my house are tucked in bed, and at least one is dreaming of how fun it is to be all of one hand old.

You Know Life is Hitting Hyper Speed When ...

Tonight I went to the library website and renewed 22 books on-line. Twenty-two, for goodness sakes. Granted, many of those are snake books and train books, but quite a few are ones I was sure I would get to, and yet am renewing for like the fifth or sixth time.

I'm actually thankful I had enough brain cells left to remember to do this. Just a few weeks after I paid my $75 fee for out of township library card renewal at the end of August, I proceeded to forget about renewing those books which are due. Thus, I added an almost $8 fine to the money I had already relinquished to them (all the more infuriating because it was totally unnecessary given the ease of on-line renewal). May they purchase excellent books with the funds I have contributed!

Further revealing that brain cells are at issue ... Around 10:30 p.m., my ES called me into his room. (Oh, the number of times I get comfortable in my private throne at the outlet to civilization, only to have one of the boys call out for water or some other necessary assistance.) Instead of asking me to recharge his I-Pod, turn off the television, plug in his cell phone or refill his water, he asked me if he could get his hair cut tomorrow.

Now, how could I possibly turn down a rare opportunity like that? I looked at him in amazement and exploded with an affirmative, only to retract it when I remembered that tomorrow night we are having a birthday party for MS at Chuck E. Cheese's (at this point, I shred my own hair, negating any need to book an appointment for myself, as well). In addition to putting together the party bags, I still have to frost and decorate the dinosaur cake tomorrow. I'm thinking tomorrow won't work, but I did promise to accomplish this before the weekend is out.

As if I suddenly realized what time it was, I looked back up at him (in his loft bed) and said, "Are you awake?"

We both immediately caught the sheer lunacy of this question and began to laugh.

May October bring slower days and rejuvenating brain cells (o.k., a little extra sleep might not hurt either).

Its Raining, Its Pouring, My Boys are Probably Driving my Husband Crazy

It is the Fourth of July here, and the rain just keeps coming down. Although it is wonderful as an incentive for cleaning the house (which I swear I have been doing a fair amount of - despite the fact that I am now on the computer), it is driving my children crazy. I called them at Grandma's house, just to be sure.

Yep, ES is whining and disgruntled because he can't do fireworks in the rain. For the past several years, my brother-in-law has invited us to his house, where they set off their own fireworks. This is not my idea of a perfect Fourth of July celebration. I worry about injuries and I miss watching "the real thing" - you know, the ones that professionals do up in the sky, the ones that make me go "ooh," and "aah," instead of "yikes - that was a close one! One of these days you're going to burn your hand off!"

The little boys are, in hubby's words, "busy and destructive." I asked if they had broken anything yet, but he said no. Then again, when I called, it was only 1 p.m. and they hadn't even been at her house for a full 24 hours.

Now, since I've taken a break from cleaning, I might as well share a photo of the cake I made for YS's half-birthday last week. The poor guy is so neglected when it comes to birthdays, even with our efforts to recognize it on his half birthday. His birthday comes just days after Christmas and so we determined to celebrate his half birthday every June.

Last June, he received one half-birthday present and no cake. This year, he received one cake and no present. When ES saw the cake, he said, "How many times are you gonna make this cake?" I purchased the cake pan for $2 at Target before ES's 2nd birthday. I made a practice cake and frosted it in front of my students (who then devoured the whole thing, without a photo op). When I made it for ES's birthday, I forgot to take a photo, so I made the dern cake again three weeks later for my own birthday and finally snapped the photo. Then, I made the cake again for MS's 2nd birthday.



So, I say, "Let them eat cake," and "Rain, rain, go away, my boys just want to go outside and play ... with fireworks!"

Anticlimactic Reveal of the Snake Cake

I am so thankful to Amy for her suggestion of purchasing a card reader. It only cost $13 and it enabled me to save my photos and videos from MS's birthday (taken at the end of September). I feel so relieved.

So, here are the long-awaited photos of the coral snake cake which MS requested for his birthday. I was fairly disappointed with how it turned out and would love to try it again (perhaps next year he'll still be interested in snakes). First off, it called for two cakes in bundt pans. I made one vanilla and one chocolate, but because I rushed through the frosting task, you could sort of see through to the different bits of cake color. Plus, two cakes is WAY TOO MUCH for our small family of five. We ended up throwing half of it out, even though I tried freezing some of it.




I think, if I attempt this again, I will do things differently. I will only prepare one batch of cake batter and will fill the bundt pan with half of the batter (don't know if this will make it too flat, but as it was, it was very large and round). Next time, I would approach the frosting differently as well. To save time, I chose to use my larger Tupperware frosting tips. It did save time, but the cake ended up looking like a furry caterpillar instead of a snake.

Still, MS loved it and that is what matters. And, yah-rah, I managed to retain pictures of the cake for posterity. I am adding in a photo of YS, moments before he stealthily snitched the camera and placed it in the sandbox. With an adorable face like that, I couldn't be mad at him. Hey, he knew I really wanted to have a camera with sound accompanying my videos!

You're Not Two Yet, Buster!

We had a lovely, quiet family party for my MS. I took photos of the coral snake cake. I took photos of the presents before they were unwrapped. YS tried to help by bringing the presents onto the porch and nearly missed setting them on the cake. He was also intent upon opening the presents for MS (something MS would have objected, if ES had given YS the chance - he was doing basketball guarding moves, I think). I took a few short videos of MS opening his presents with glee.

The cake was quite tasty. My husband always prefers my homemade butter cream icing to the store-bought kind. Since I used two cake mixes, I made only one batch of the butter cream and colored the chocolate tub frosting with black food coloring (it did indeed darken in the refrigerator and was very black). I did run out of the yellow frosting (I'm not a good judge of quantities of various colors, I guess), but decided it would be an imperfect snake with a red and black striped tail.

After the sugar high from the cake kicked in, we headed outside in the hopes of running off their energy. My YS was playing in the sand table. I had found a small outdoor table of perfect height at a garage sale for only $4. While I was thrilled with the great deal, it also marked a death knell of sorts. Every time I return from a garage sale, I explain that I stopped because I am hoping to find a small table to put under the boys' Rubbermaid box of sand (the previous plastic table was broken back in May, during ES's birthday party). My husband is breathing a sigh of relief. I guess my garage sale days are over now.

Along with the sigh of relief, however, we are also groaning with exasperation. The revival of the sand table brought an additional death knell, when YS stealthily located, grabbed and submerged my digital camera into the sand box. We have tried to download the party photos and videos, but it won't work. I have sent off an inquiry to the manufacturer to see if there is any way to get the images off the memory card.

I also had taken another photo to share on my blog. It was a horrifying picture of MS's leg. You would be hard pressed to believe me when I say that it actually looks worse than my legs did in my recent rash documentary. But it is true. He had a scrape on his leg. It began to look red. Then it began to look blistery. Now it is violent red, blistery and itchy. He couldn't get to sleep tonight. We are wondering if it has turned into impetigo. So, surprise, surprise, we are off to the doctor's office again tomorrow morning.

My hubby is calling the Dr. tomorrow to request an additional antibiotic, since his sinus infection returned after he completed his other antibiotic (the one which produced an excemous rash on his elbows, knees and limbs - yah rah!). YS is also on an antibiotic, at the moment, because of a cold (I was worried it would go into croup, but it hasn't yet). So, we are surviving, but the camera may have to be buried, along with all photographic evidence that MS turned 4 and developed a horrid rash! This, too, shall pass.

The Only Way I'm Giving My Son a Snake!

This will have to be a short post. I have mucho work to do tonight. This weekend, my MS turns 4. The list of things he wants is ENDLESS - basically, everything he sees on TV, minus most of the girly toys (although he is coveting the Barbie pool, because he wants to put his "toadies" in it).

Side note: ES is pushing our buttons by complaining that he never gets anything (this from a boy who just purchased Rock Band, with half the cost contributed by his parents). In fact, when he purchased Rock Band, we assured him that within two weeks he would be clamoring for something else that he perceives as a "must have." One of his close friends recently got a 118 inch television (although Wikianswers.com tells me that the largest television available is a 103 inch Panasonic Plasma TV) . Then, this week, the same friend was given a $1000 moped/motor scooter. It was so frustrating to watch ES, green with envy, as his friend offered to "trail him" (give him a ride) on the scooter (I would have thought trailing him meant ES pedaling his own bicycle behind the friend on the scooter! Ha!). So, this week has been replete with conversations about why "things" don't bring fulfillment.

Back to MS. His resounding request has been for a pet snake. Not a chance! My husband suggested a mouse, since they are timid and would probably not bite if handled excessively (which is certainly what MS would do!). If they didn't smell and I knew that I would never be required to have anything to do with the care and keeping of a mouse, I might agree. But, I didn't. No way! My suggestion is a fish to replace poor short-lived "Scooby-Doo." We live in my husband's grandmother's house and he regales me with tales of all the cages which used to line the hearthstone when he would come to visit here, bringing all of his pets. At this point, I'm up for a fish. That's all.

However, when I asked MS what kind of cake he wanted, he said "a snake cake." Now that, I can handle. So, tonight, I will be busy frosting (and figuring out how in the world to wrap for storage) a coral snake cake (he is very specific). I baked two cakes in my bundt pan this week and have them in the freezer. I made the black, red and yellow frosting yesterday (although, of course, the red looks a bit pinkish and the black is dark grey). I keep wishing I were more of a professional at this, like Amber, Amy, Dawn (see Sept. 21st post called "Surprise") and others. I'll do my best. I just hope a photo of my final product doesn't end up here, (a very funny site) although, the subtitle says "When professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong," so I'm probably safe.

A Good Time Was Had by ALL!

I am very thankful for the blogging community. When I logged on Friday morning and began to read several of the encouraging comments, it really helped me to step back and not feel quite so much panic. I have to admit, Thursday evening, I couldn't even get to sleep. I have been reading another Shopaholic book (well, listening, actually), and I was being Becky Bloomwood all over the place (if you've never read one, she goes off on the most deluded scenarios in her mind).

I imagined myself driving to the school Friday morning to address each of the 6th grade homerooms and explain that the party was not going to happen. I imagined 100 kids storming our house and lawn and me, calling 9-1-1 in the background, hoping the police could contain the crowds of middle-school students expecting a romping good time. I imagined my husband losing it and going ballistic on my son for assuming he could pass out an undetermined number of invitations. I imagined injuries.

Your comments really made me step back and see this for the opportunity that it was. I knew that I would have responded differently if the same scenario had played out back in IL. For one thing, I worked in my son's school, so I knew almost every kid in his grade level. It wouldn't have been quite so daunting to contemplate. But, then, I began to think about what people were saying about looking at it as a chance to meet his friends.

My husband had the day off work on Friday, so he was able to help us get things prepared. We looked at each other and laughed when it began to rain around noon. While the little boys napped, my husband moved the cars out of our garage and cleaned it. He brought out chairs and a table and a foosball table. He laid down plastic to cover the carpeting in the room off the garage. I frosted the cake and brought up the cooler.

The bag of ice, purchased at Walmart, made me laugh. The bag read, "Healthier than Home-made!" O.K., how in the world is store-bought ice healthier than home-made ice?? Both are made with H2O!

I was thankful that my ES was gracious enough to allow my MS to wear his Spiderman suit (something I had warned MS would not be allowed if ES was uncomfortable with that). The guests began arriving at 5:20, and the total count only reached 13. They were having a great time, despite the wet ground. They jumped on the trampoline, rode skateboards and rollerblades, and talked on their cell phones. My two little ones were thrilled to have all those bigger kids around. MS talked to everyone, and settled on one girl, whom he dubbed "B----'s girlfriend," but ended up calling his own girlfriend.

I don't think my ES appreciated my desire to meet and get to know all of his friends. He kept asking, "Are you going to hang out here the whole time?" I merely said I was keeping an eye on the little guys while they played and they would go in to eat dinner soon. But, I did stay out when they went in for dinner. Finally, my ES decided to lead everyone on a walk in the woods.

I managed to get a bite and put candles on the cake, before two girls returned with an injury. Apparently, one girl was up on someone's shoulders and fell off, losing her shoe and landing on a stick. The cut wasn't too bad. We washed it and bandaged it and by then, two boys had returned to check on the girls. They hashed this plan to trick the others and say that the injured girl had to head to the hospital. The girls hid under the quarter-pipe and the boys broke the story.

By the time the larger group returned, it had started to pour. The other kids bought the story (unbelievably) and while a bunch were jumping on the trampoline, in the rain, the two girls snuck into the house. When I took out the cake, the girls headed out the front door and back into the garage, telling everyone that the mom had dropped them off.

Here is a photo of my ES blowing out his candles (MS actually blew them out the minute I had them lit, so I had to explain the process and relight them).






Then, we got a nice group shot.

My husband put the little boys to bed and I hung out talking with the kids. It was nice to get to know some of them whom I have corresponded with through instant messaging when they were trying to connect with my son before. They did break a few things (a squirt gun, the little boys' sand table and a skateboard) - the boys were definitely being hard on things - but I was pleased that they didn't break the trampoline (despite a repeated trend of crowding everyone on it after I had asked them to keep it to 5 at a time).

By 10 p.m., all the other kids had been picked-up and the sleepover began. It was a good thing that I was on party patrol and my husband took parenting patrol. He was quite exasperated by the time we were all in for the night. The little boys don't go down easily and had given him a hard time.

Then, he noticed that his wedding ring was missing. You know how I feel about him removing his wedding ring when he takes out his wallet and cell phone. He had placed them on a table in the room off the garage. I headed to the little boys' room to find MS still awake. Thankfully, our hunch was correct. MS had taken the ring off the table and put it in his Batman slipper. Praise God, it was still there! Perhaps now, my hubby will take better care of it? I'm not really counting on it, though.

Even with the frantic ring search, I would say that we ALL had a good time. The cake was delicious and the kids only consumed half of it. I didn't mind staying up a while with the sleepover, since I'm usually up late. It poured all through the night, but by today the ground was dry and ES was able to invite another friend over. They rode the go-kart and had a bon-fire. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday weekend for my son!