Ooops!

I’m in the midst of my annual flurry of making Halloween costumes.  At the moment, I’m struggling to make a dress for my daughter.  While working on the dress, I realized I never blogged about last year’s costumes.  So here they are:

Last year, was the year of Harry Potter.  My daughter and her friends read all the books, watched all the movies all in preparation for the release of the “Deathly Hollows, Part I” film to be released.  To coincide with the release the kids all dressed up as characters from the Harry Potter movies.  Instead of choosing Hermione, my daughter choose to be Bellatrix LaStrange and what a great villain she was.

They could be twins, don’t you think?

The Bellatrix costume wasn’t so bad.  The skirt was harder to sew than I anticipated.  Her jacket was a Goodwill find, and her shirt was embellished with silver fabric paint.  Overall, fairly easy for a wizard costume.

My oldest son wanted to be an Ewok from Star Wars.  An Ewok???? How do you make that costume?  And not make it too cute!

In the end, I adapted a bear pattern, and with a few embellishments:  A hood made out of fleece, a fabric print belt, and a bear turns into a cute, but fierce Ewok.  

Not to bad. I have to say.  All the Dads, who were out trick-or-treating, thought his costume rocked.

Hopefully, in a few days, I’ll have this year’s crop of costumes for you.

Magical Moment of the Day

While describing the day’s craziness to a friend, on the phone, I drove by a young doe walking by a fence, about to hide in some trees.

This is Why I had a Third Child

Years ago, a friend of mine showed me the crankypants website.  There were the cutest knitted baby pants, are they not?

 

 

However, I didn’t have a baby or even a toddler.  Michael was a very cool four –year-old, that no matter what the reward would NEVER EVER put on those pants.  I longed for these pants, they are a knitters dream project.  Just cute and spunky at the same time.

Well, a few years later, lo a behold,I now have John.  After months of hard work (I will not fess up exactly how long) the shorts are done.  He may not be crawling, but he’s still a toddler!  John loves his new monster shorts and at two-and-half years of age, he wears them with pride!  Whew, got them done just in time, before he grew to old and before the weather turned.  Because I don’t think a fourth child would happen, just so I could knit these pants!  Because quite frankly, three is enough.

 

 

 

I have to thank Purlbee for helping me figure out what type of pants I wanted to knit and Smoochie helped me figure out the pattern for the face. Now off to the next project~

Tapas!

One day, while enjoying a few moments alone shopping at Marshalls.  Yes, I never thought I’d enjoy shopping by myself, after 8 p.m. in a store.  But sometimes, when you’re by yourself and the shopping cart, strolling through a store, you can actually breathe.  I digress.  I found a Tapas book for $3.99.

Tapas?  I’ve heard about them, but what are they? I picked up the book, to find out there was a secret tapas lover hiding in my soul.  They’re like appetizers, but really they are the whole meal, just little quick courses.  Not to heavy, easy, and oh so good.
So I’ve instituted Tapas/Appetizer Fridays.  Which has happened once in the last 7 or 8 weeks.  I try, someday when the planets align it’ll happen again.  We enjoyed “Porterhouse Steak with Sherry,” it was tender and delicious.  The stuffed tomatoes were scrumptious, believe it or not the kids liked the Tapas more than they liked the mini pizza bites.  Which brings me to today.

At 4:30 today, while defrosting the chicken that I had forgotten to taken out.  Thinking to myself “what am I going to make for dinner?” I realize, that not only was my daughter hosting a sleepover after my son’s 6:15 soccer game, but I had rescheduled his piano lesson for 5:30 (oops).  What am I going to make in 30 minutes?  Panic!  What am I going to do?  I will just die if we do fast food again (whine).  Ah ha! Tapas book to the rescue.  I was able to throw together “Chicken in Lemon and Garlic,” home made Cole slaw, and some Watermelon slices.  Dinner was on the table at 5:05 and we were out the door on time.  Yes, miracles can happen.
The Tornado warning part of the story can wait

What’s Wrong With The Breck Girl Look?

The act of blow drying my daughter’s hair, has been an act of torture for both her and I FOREVER.  I brush and she screams, I yell, we huff and we puff, it is a regular old nightmare.  Tonight, the light bulb finally went off.  She’s going for this look:

While, as a child of the 80’s, I’m going for this:

Really, truth be said, I’d love to see this:

Sigh, I guess there will have to be some compromise found.  I understand the Susan Dey look, but really is there anything wrong with being a Breck Girl?

 

* For those of you who know me.  Yes, I realize I would have hated being a “Breck Girl.” I recognize the hypocrisy.

TGIF

They say color effects your mood, I think I proved it this week.  Or at least color affects your attitude.  That’s especially true, when you add childhood indoctrination.  Monday morning, I looked in the morning and I realized I was wearing green and black, i.e. I looked like one of these guys:

 

Gais YUCK!!!!!!  These guys stink more than a 2 year-olds diaper.  They are the antithesis of good.  They are pure E.V.I.L.  You know, how the Steelers are, but worse.  Yes, I live in Cleveland.  I would say my Swedish cousins indoctrination would have made Pravda proud.  I soaked it up as a little 5 year-old.  I think I was feed of anti Gais bottle of milk, and told that IFK Blåvitt were the Angels.  I haven’t seen a Swedish football match in years and years, but I know these truths to be true.

So Monday morning, I looked in the morning and “Yuck” came out of my mouth.  As a result, one kid was sick, our TV died (it has resurrected though, for now) another kid had a second round of antibiotics, one kid was stung by a bee in his cleat, everything took forever, etc. and all because I choose to wear a green shirt with black pants.  Now, if I had worn blue and white, it would have been a much better week.  I would have looked like one of these guys…the good guys.

April’s Fool

This year I took it easy and served up some tomato soup for the kiddos.

With a little banana pudding and some spray food coloring and there you have it.

School Box Top Contest

After weeks of anticipation, the winners of our schools Box Top competition have been announced.  After tons of clipping, and scrounging, the grade that had the most Box Tops turned in is……was the First Grade class.  To celebrate they had a dance party and snacks during recess.  Look at this incredible cake a couple of moms made.  Just amazing, wonder what their prize is going to be….

Wordless Wednesday

What’s A Hero

In my mind heroes are: the firemen that ran into the Twin Towers on 9/11, the policeman who saved a battered woman or child, a soldier, an astronaut,  a teacher who provides a snack for a needy student, etc.  Now there is another set, these engineers who the Fukushima nuclear plant.  There are 50 of them, working while being exposed to unbelievable levels of radiation, just like a doctor or nurse who works on a heart attack patient for over an hour, never giving up hope.  Are these fathers and mothers, grandparents, newly graduated engineers?  Do they even know the fate of their families and homes after the Tsunami?  They must know they’re giving their lives to stop the meltdown.  This whole experience is just drawn from a disaster movie.  Those things just weren’t ever supposed to happen.  Now, they happen every year it seems.  These people remind me of the characters from “Armageddon,”  just your average Joe, who is now charged with saving many.  What can you say about people who do that?  Hero is not a big enough word. 
Here is an NPR article regarding these heroes.  God speed to them.

Oh, The Possibilities

I don’t know if it’s part of the American fabric, or my grandfather’s seaman's blood, but there is nothing like being on the road.  Especially, when it’s dark and the only vehicles on the road are you and a half a dozen semi-s making your way to nowhere.  There’s a world of possibility on that road in front of you.  Tonight, I drove for the first time in a long time, listing to R.E.M., Alanis Morissette, Natalie Merchant, and some other college favorites, with two of my kids sleeping in the back of my car.  As usual, Melissa Etheridge describes it the best.

Call ME: Land Line, Cell Phone, E-mail, Etc.

Unbelievably, I’ve entered another new stage of my life.  I’ve begun to work outside the home again.  While I’m at home waiting for Little John ripening a little bit more before I can let him loose, I’m substitute teaching.  
I’m so excited to finally work in my field again, and every once in a while I am able to teach a Social Studies class.  It just makes my week when that happens.  Unfortunately, I rarely interact with the teachers I work for, which brings me to this post.  I need to leave my contact information in case they have a question and I rather not leave it in my horrible scrawl.  Calling cards are my answer.  I came across How about Orange, a lovely blog, which not only had calling cards, the calling cards have a Kurbits print and they are orange.  Just two of my favorite things. 

Snow Day

last Friday the sixth snow day of the school year hit us in Northeast Ohio.  Wendy finally decided it was time to build her Lego Pirate ship, that had been sitting in the closet.  She spent the day working on this project, without letting her brother (who was circling) divert her attention. 
It always amazes me that this:


Can turn into this:


Scenes from the plunder:

What’s your Ikea name?

What better subject to resume blogging with.  If you’re curious what you’d be called if you were a prepackaged bookcase from Ikea, you can find out here.

Moose

Second Star to the Right and On’Til Morning

My baby is not a baby anymore. He’s starting to put two words together, he wears a size 8 ½ shoe, he runs and jumps, an d he can even throw a tantrum or two. The time has gone so fast. As a result, we’re getting rid of our baby things slowly but surely. Three will be it. So, the items we’re not keeping for mementos or any possible grandchildren are finding their way into the donation pile. So it’s time, before his room changes too much, to document it. It’s a bit narcissistic, but what about blogging isn’t?

I planned for years for this room. The blue is my favorite color, sort of a Wedgewood blue. The stars were in a Pottery Barn catalog years ago and I kept the clipping, for just the right time. The time finally came. However, I had tremendous carpel syndrome due to my pregnancy, that my incredible friend and my mother helped me paint the fine details of the stars. My daughter helped with Big Ben and I was able to paint Peter Pan and the Darlings. The wall decal was special ordered from Just Ad Words. Luckily, the bumper and valance that my incredibly talented mother made for my first child fit wonderfully in this room. All I had to buy was the quilt for our extra bed for guests.

After all that work, the room was complete and waiting for my little baby boy.  He’s so big and just ready and willing to go find some adventures with Peter.  So, here’s the snapshot of my baby’s nursery as he’s  headed for the second star to the right and on’til morning.

Shhh…Don’t Tell Anyone

It’s not as though I don’t love my kids and love being with them, but it’s just so rare that I’m by myself for any length of time during the day.  Then there was today.  My kids, all three of them were at my mother’s, so I could go to a Doctor’s appointment downtown.  Amazingly enough I was out of the office in 30 minutes.  That never happens, any pediatric appointment takes at least two hours, I have spent literally a total of weeks in the waiting room and examining room over the last 10 1/2 years, but not today.  I didn’t even have time to flip through a magazine. 

“So what do I do now?”  I thought sitting in my car at 10:45 on an absolutely gorgeous day. I could go get my kids, but you know they’re at Grandma’s the last thing they want to see is, well, ME.  There is some Easter shopping to do, yard work, and about a million and half other things I could be doing, but you know what I had in my wallet?  A membership to the Cleveland Botanical Garden,which is about a mile away from the parking lot.  Shhh, don’t tell anyone, I went to the garden and walked around looking at the daffodils and crocuses.  I even sat down on a bench and didn’t have to answer to Mom, Mom, Mom, MOM, or chase anyone, shhh, don’t tell anyone.  Then the church clock struck 12 and I had to go…

Sometimes life just hands you gifts.

Just Plain Fun

I thought I’d share this.  My daughter is looking for ideas for her school’s talent show, so we ended up on YouTube.  This video, the Evolution of Dance, just is plain silly fun.  I thought you guys would get a kick out of it.

Wordless Wednesday

So How Does a Dairy-Free Birthday Cake Work?

My little caboose turned one!  Can you believe it?   Xander is an entire year old!  As many of you know, he has been kicked off of dairy again!  That means some of life’s greatest pleasures are withheld: cheese, milk, yogurt, sour cream, are taboo, gone, struck down, not to be had.  Oh, the agony….  I digress.

We had to restart Xander’s dairy/soy free diet again, one week before his birthday.  A few days into the diet, it hit me, his cake!  How am I going to make him a dairy free cake?  There is no way I’m going to make this little guy a birthday cake that he can’t eat, NO WAY!  I’m crazy about birthday cakes, especially first birthday cakes.  Over the years I have made some horrible, ugly, birthday cakes (see an example below), but they have been made from the heart, except for one.  It’s one of my biggest guilts (ok, I know it’s trivial) is that I bought an ice-cream cake for Daniel’s first birthday.  So, there is no way that my caboose, is not going to have a homemade first birthday cake.

The research began and I settled on a Cherrybrook chocolate cake mix.  I know it was a mix, but it was dairy and soy free.  I then tried their frosting… it was awful.  I don’t know if it was the shortening that I used, but it was too sweet and had an awful texture.   After some goggling I found this recipe, it’s essentially a meringue frosting, and super easy to make.  I whipped up three batches of frosting and decorated the cake, and I must say it looked and tasted pretty darn good.  Yippee!!!

Now, on to my confessions.  Number one, I was so focused on making a successful dairy free/soy free cake, I didn’t make enough.  So pretty much only the kids got a taste of the cake, seriously only an idiot does something like that.  My second confession is that by the time I had the last quarter of the cake to cut, it just started falling apart.  The frosting became too warm and started slipping.  I sort of suspected this might happen, while I was decorating the cake.  I had a conundrum.  I have started freezing my cakes before I frost them, because it is so much easier to decorate them.  But now I have a frozen cake, that needed to thaw, but the frosting had to stay cold….why does stuff like this always happen to me?  Someone explain, I swear, I try to think things through.  At any rate, we left the cake in the garage overnight, and we took our chances and brought it in to defrost in the morning, and the cake started falling apart.  So next time I use this frosting the cake won’t be frozen.  I will use the frosting again, because it tasted pretty good and didn’t have any of the forbidden fruit dairy.  What matters, is in the end, Xander ate his homemade dairy/soy free cake, and loved it!