I have a turkey hangover. There is so much that happened over the weekend and I'm flat out exhausted. I will catch up with you all tomorrow. This week I'll talk about Black Friday shopping with my Mom, getting a job and the first step in ushering in Christmas. I hope you had a wonderful and safe holiday.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Kaitlyn's 2nd Birthday
Today is Kaitlyn’s Birthday. She is two. Oh the terrible two’s. I think Kaitlyn entered this mischievous stage months ago. Kaitlyn is very smart, very loving and very sensitive. I have never seen such a young child get her feelings hurt so easily. I think it is because she wears her heart on her sleeve. If I am sitting down for over five minutes I am guaranteed a visit and lap sitting from K-Bear. She’d rather be snuggling than sitting alone and when she gives you a kiss you sense meaning behind it.
Teagan was only four months old when I found out I was pregnant with a second child. I really wanted a boy. A girl and a boy, I’d be done. Even when I was told it was a girl I still hoped they were wrong. I guess all the hoping is why Kaitlyn looks just like her Father. From her smile, to her pout, to her leave me alone glare she is her Father. Now that I have her I would never ever trade her for a boy. Kaitlyn is perfect and the girls are perfect for each other.
I was also very worried that I would not love Kaitlyn as much as Teagan. I hear this is a common thought for Mother’s expecting their second child. Teagan was such a blessing that the very thought of her would swell my heart to bursting and I had so many doubts that this feeling would not exist with Kaitlyn. I was wrong. When Kaitlyn was born they gave her to me to lay skin upon skin to warm her. In that instant she looked up at me as I cooed to her and my heart surged. It was the same breath taking love I had for Teagan with no failing. My Kaitlyn had her own place in my heart and it was just as vast.
We were blessed when we had one beautiful, smart wonderful child. We are humbled to have received two. Kaitlyn you are my heart with legs. You are my joy and I am thankful to be your Mom. I love you and hope you have a very Happy Birthday.
Teagan was only four months old when I found out I was pregnant with a second child. I really wanted a boy. A girl and a boy, I’d be done. Even when I was told it was a girl I still hoped they were wrong. I guess all the hoping is why Kaitlyn looks just like her Father. From her smile, to her pout, to her leave me alone glare she is her Father. Now that I have her I would never ever trade her for a boy. Kaitlyn is perfect and the girls are perfect for each other.
I was also very worried that I would not love Kaitlyn as much as Teagan. I hear this is a common thought for Mother’s expecting their second child. Teagan was such a blessing that the very thought of her would swell my heart to bursting and I had so many doubts that this feeling would not exist with Kaitlyn. I was wrong. When Kaitlyn was born they gave her to me to lay skin upon skin to warm her. In that instant she looked up at me as I cooed to her and my heart surged. It was the same breath taking love I had for Teagan with no failing. My Kaitlyn had her own place in my heart and it was just as vast.
We were blessed when we had one beautiful, smart wonderful child. We are humbled to have received two. Kaitlyn you are my heart with legs. You are my joy and I am thankful to be your Mom. I love you and hope you have a very Happy Birthday.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Birthday Cakes
Birthday cakes. The center of the Birthday party. This year I wanted two cakes, one for each bear to have a candle on and blow out. I thought of Max and Ruby or a Dora and Diego but I kept being brought back to Sponge Bob and Patrick. It’s a square and a star so how much trouble should it be? If you allot for the time it shouldn’t be any bother at all. Time, my fatal foe.
I bake two 9” rounds the morning of the party. Taking each round I cut out the figures. Piecing together arms and legs. Teagan and Kaitlyn come in to the dining room and see the uncovered chocolate figures and yell out “Sponge Bob…Patrick.” If nothing else the figures are recognizable so I suppose I’m off to a great start.
I mixed up a big batch of frosting. I am not use to frosting cakes and I was afraid of running out of frosting. There was so much leftover I could have made a thick frosting on another set of cakes but it was worth it to easy my mind. I took several bowls and doled out servings for all the colors; yellow, green, pink, purple, brown, and red. I cheated and bought black. The colors were okay but brown is not an easy color to achieve without it getting brackish.
I decide to frost Patrick first. His body was easy, as were the shorts. I pipe on the flowers on the shorts and they end up looking like blobs. I put on his eyes and pipe in the retinas, mouth and of course belly button. Patrick is done. He actually looks cute. I’m not going to win an award but he’s definitely Patrick and I’m happy.
On to Sponge Bob. He’s square so he should be even easier. I coat his body and move on to his sleeves and pants. I was not pleased with the color of the brown but the pants went on well. At this point I look at the clock. I have thirty minutes before people should start arriving and I have not taken a shower, done my hair, make-up or gotten dressed. Time, damn, damn, damn, time. Because of the new stress I decide to forget the shirt and I pipe on his tie. Well that just looks stupid without the shirt. So I lay out a line for the shirt. Better but you can tell it was an after thought. I put on his eyes and pipe out the tongue. I take the black and pipe the retinas, eye lashes (the are important), and mouth. I realize the little tube of black is not enough so his shoes will have to be the horrible brown. At this point compromise comes easily. Something is missing. Not just right. I forgot his two huge teeth. Without them it’s just not Sponge Bob. So I carefully try to squeeze in teeth. They are little nubbins but they will work.
I have no more time. They will have to do. No they are not as good as I could have done if I had mapped the time accurately. However, I am over all satisfied with them.
Every one recognized them and actually gave me kudos. My SIL was the only one who was brutally honest and chalked them up to a tolerable rendition. I think that’s why I love her so much. She did like the frosting and so that is notable.
The girls loved them and even their cousin was pleased. Once I gave her Sponge Bob’s eyeball. A good time was had by all and I will of course take a crack at it next year.
I bake two 9” rounds the morning of the party. Taking each round I cut out the figures. Piecing together arms and legs. Teagan and Kaitlyn come in to the dining room and see the uncovered chocolate figures and yell out “Sponge Bob…Patrick.” If nothing else the figures are recognizable so I suppose I’m off to a great start.
I mixed up a big batch of frosting. I am not use to frosting cakes and I was afraid of running out of frosting. There was so much leftover I could have made a thick frosting on another set of cakes but it was worth it to easy my mind. I took several bowls and doled out servings for all the colors; yellow, green, pink, purple, brown, and red. I cheated and bought black. The colors were okay but brown is not an easy color to achieve without it getting brackish.
I decide to frost Patrick first. His body was easy, as were the shorts. I pipe on the flowers on the shorts and they end up looking like blobs. I put on his eyes and pipe in the retinas, mouth and of course belly button. Patrick is done. He actually looks cute. I’m not going to win an award but he’s definitely Patrick and I’m happy.
On to Sponge Bob. He’s square so he should be even easier. I coat his body and move on to his sleeves and pants. I was not pleased with the color of the brown but the pants went on well. At this point I look at the clock. I have thirty minutes before people should start arriving and I have not taken a shower, done my hair, make-up or gotten dressed. Time, damn, damn, damn, time. Because of the new stress I decide to forget the shirt and I pipe on his tie. Well that just looks stupid without the shirt. So I lay out a line for the shirt. Better but you can tell it was an after thought. I put on his eyes and pipe out the tongue. I take the black and pipe the retinas, eye lashes (the are important), and mouth. I realize the little tube of black is not enough so his shoes will have to be the horrible brown. At this point compromise comes easily. Something is missing. Not just right. I forgot his two huge teeth. Without them it’s just not Sponge Bob. So I carefully try to squeeze in teeth. They are little nubbins but they will work.
I have no more time. They will have to do. No they are not as good as I could have done if I had mapped the time accurately. However, I am over all satisfied with them.
Every one recognized them and actually gave me kudos. My SIL was the only one who was brutally honest and chalked them up to a tolerable rendition. I think that’s why I love her so much. She did like the frosting and so that is notable.
The girls loved them and even their cousin was pleased. Once I gave her Sponge Bob’s eyeball. A good time was had by all and I will of course take a crack at it next year.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Take Time
This weekend’s Birthday party was extremely fun and had very few snags. The girls got a butt load of presents and even the cakes were well received. I’ll blog about that in the days to come. Today I want to recognize the best thing about the party. The people.
A year ago we lived in Georgia. So far away from family and friends that we utilized web conferencing to stay in touch and make sure the bears had a connection established. This was hard for all of us. While I loved Georgia I hated being absent. I would cringe when I would be told of a family outing or a girl’s night out that I missed. Life goes on without you no matter how much you desire to be included.
So we are back. Back among family and friends and it feels so good. I knew I missed people but didn’t realize how innate it was. Or how much better I feel when I’m able to sit face to face with a friend and laugh. My spirit is rejuvenated.
There were some family and friends that couldn’t make it on Saturday and they were missed. Nevertheless from the ones that were there I relished them so much. I flitted from group to group and basked in their presence. I am sure I was giddier than the bears with all of their toys.
If you haven’t seen a friend or a cousin in too long stop putting it off. Yes we all are busy. The holidays make it even more so. In spite of this, make a minute, take an hour, you will feel so much better and your outlook will improve.
A year ago we lived in Georgia. So far away from family and friends that we utilized web conferencing to stay in touch and make sure the bears had a connection established. This was hard for all of us. While I loved Georgia I hated being absent. I would cringe when I would be told of a family outing or a girl’s night out that I missed. Life goes on without you no matter how much you desire to be included.
So we are back. Back among family and friends and it feels so good. I knew I missed people but didn’t realize how innate it was. Or how much better I feel when I’m able to sit face to face with a friend and laugh. My spirit is rejuvenated.
There were some family and friends that couldn’t make it on Saturday and they were missed. Nevertheless from the ones that were there I relished them so much. I flitted from group to group and basked in their presence. I am sure I was giddier than the bears with all of their toys.
If you haven’t seen a friend or a cousin in too long stop putting it off. Yes we all are busy. The holidays make it even more so. In spite of this, make a minute, take an hour, you will feel so much better and your outlook will improve.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Birthday Cake Decorating
Tomorrow is the big party for the bears combined Birthday’s. There will be presents, games, food and of course the very special Birthday cake. This year I am once again taking on the task of baking and decorating the cakes. My experience in this area has not been stellar. When it comes to cooking and especially baking I can make decadence out of the ingredients. However when it comes to decorating I am not skilled or even competent. Yet here I am trying again.
I blame the fact that I am abysmal at decorating on not getting enough practice. Three times a year is not adequate preparation. This is why there is a niche for cake decorators. Alas I strive every year to be the Mom who makes the best Birthday cake.
Last year for Teagan’s Birthday I made a Tinker Bell cake. Or at least that is what I called it. We had Grandparents and their Great Aunt coming in so I saved the baking and decorating till the very end. The cake was lemon with just the right amount of tart in the midst of sweet. Perfect. Then came the decorating.
I thought I was being easy on myself by making a 9” round and doing a 2D image of Tinker Bell. Ha! I frosted the overall cake. Good job. Next, time for the actual figure. I started with her dress. This was surprisingly painless. When I started mixing the food coloring for the body I was having issues in achieving a pale peach. You see Tinker Bell is a fair fairy and food coloring doesn’t come in fair. Mix, mix, mix. The best I could accomplish was spray tan orange. Have you ever seen an orange fairy? Me neither. Running out of time I sucked it up and decided to proceed. Neck merging into the first arm. Not bad. Next arm... oh, stop that… no, not that wide… gorilla arm. Damn. I tried lifting the excess off with a toothpick, smudging white frosting over some more. Okay so Tink has been working out. Moving on. Legs. Now this fairy does have massive thighs as if she does squats every morning before breakfast. So I go for thin and add where I need to. Right leg… left leg… hey, not bad. Little green shoes. Yea, that just looks like blobs. Running out of time, tick, tick, tick. Time for spray tan face. Oh wow. That’s bad. The arms, the legs, but having the face with the spray tan makes her look like an oompa loompa. Tick, tick, tick. Blonde hair. Not the best tresses but you at least know it’s hair! Facial features. Eyes and mouth only, because the nose is not going to stand out in the sea of orange on this face. Left eye… right eye… dot of blue for each… outline in black. Uh, that looks odd. Maybe because they would be better suited for a larger face that was on a man. On we go. Mouth. Red puckered lips. Lips that look like they have been injected with silicon. Seriously at this point Tinker Bell has morphed into a street walker. Short skirt, spray tan, heavy eye make-up with a slathering of red lipstick. The gorilla arm just adds to the mystique. Ah yes and to finish off the look, scary blue things sprouting out of her back suppose to be light and airy fairy wings. It looks like she is holding gigantic scissors behind her back with her gorilla arm. I suppose women of the night need protection too. I can do no more. Damage that is. I write Teagan’s name and add sprinkles.
As I stand back and scrutinize the disaster in front of me I feel little arms wrap around my leg. “Hello Mommy” comes a semi-sleepy voice of my then almost two year old Teagan. She spies the counter. “Me Birfday cake?” I pick her up to show her the mess. “MOMMY! That’s Tinker Bell!” And she hugs me.
And that is why I will once again make a cake. She knew who it was and more importantly was over joyed that Mommy had made her Tinker Bell.
I blame the fact that I am abysmal at decorating on not getting enough practice. Three times a year is not adequate preparation. This is why there is a niche for cake decorators. Alas I strive every year to be the Mom who makes the best Birthday cake.
Last year for Teagan’s Birthday I made a Tinker Bell cake. Or at least that is what I called it. We had Grandparents and their Great Aunt coming in so I saved the baking and decorating till the very end. The cake was lemon with just the right amount of tart in the midst of sweet. Perfect. Then came the decorating.
I thought I was being easy on myself by making a 9” round and doing a 2D image of Tinker Bell. Ha! I frosted the overall cake. Good job. Next, time for the actual figure. I started with her dress. This was surprisingly painless. When I started mixing the food coloring for the body I was having issues in achieving a pale peach. You see Tinker Bell is a fair fairy and food coloring doesn’t come in fair. Mix, mix, mix. The best I could accomplish was spray tan orange. Have you ever seen an orange fairy? Me neither. Running out of time I sucked it up and decided to proceed. Neck merging into the first arm. Not bad. Next arm... oh, stop that… no, not that wide… gorilla arm. Damn. I tried lifting the excess off with a toothpick, smudging white frosting over some more. Okay so Tink has been working out. Moving on. Legs. Now this fairy does have massive thighs as if she does squats every morning before breakfast. So I go for thin and add where I need to. Right leg… left leg… hey, not bad. Little green shoes. Yea, that just looks like blobs. Running out of time, tick, tick, tick. Time for spray tan face. Oh wow. That’s bad. The arms, the legs, but having the face with the spray tan makes her look like an oompa loompa. Tick, tick, tick. Blonde hair. Not the best tresses but you at least know it’s hair! Facial features. Eyes and mouth only, because the nose is not going to stand out in the sea of orange on this face. Left eye… right eye… dot of blue for each… outline in black. Uh, that looks odd. Maybe because they would be better suited for a larger face that was on a man. On we go. Mouth. Red puckered lips. Lips that look like they have been injected with silicon. Seriously at this point Tinker Bell has morphed into a street walker. Short skirt, spray tan, heavy eye make-up with a slathering of red lipstick. The gorilla arm just adds to the mystique. Ah yes and to finish off the look, scary blue things sprouting out of her back suppose to be light and airy fairy wings. It looks like she is holding gigantic scissors behind her back with her gorilla arm. I suppose women of the night need protection too. I can do no more. Damage that is. I write Teagan’s name and add sprinkles.
As I stand back and scrutinize the disaster in front of me I feel little arms wrap around my leg. “Hello Mommy” comes a semi-sleepy voice of my then almost two year old Teagan. She spies the counter. “Me Birfday cake?” I pick her up to show her the mess. “MOMMY! That’s Tinker Bell!” And she hugs me.
And that is why I will once again make a cake. She knew who it was and more importantly was over joyed that Mommy had made her Tinker Bell.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Perfect Shot
Christmas is around the corner and that means it’s time to take the annual photo for the Christmas cards. A strange phenomenon happens when you go from one to two or to a family. It is no longer appropriate to send Christmas cards out that do not have a family picture on the front. Now this phenomenon reverses itself when the kids go off to college. At that point no one wants to see two old people wishing them a Happy Holiday.
This year I thought I would try a different approach. I want to have three pictures on the card one of Teagan, one of Kaitlyn, and one of Hubby and me. That way I could capture each one of us perfectly. Group photos in the past have been so hard to get everyone to smile and look at the same time. By the time it was over my frustration was so high it was almost not worth it. Except I must fulfill the duties for the Christmas card vogue.
I started the day by showering the bears, blow drying their hair and trying to curl the longer pieces. My curling iron is the crappiest ever made and it’s older than dirt. Plus the bears have never had their hair “done” before. This made for no fun for Mommy. Not wanting the normal frustration of the Christmas card incident I quickly gave up and decided they were cute enough. After I put them in their pink girly outfits from their Aunt Lori I let them loose into the yard so I could commence snapping away and get a lovely sunshine happy shot.
I’m optimistic.
I let them run around and play with flowers and sticks and I clicked away. After looking through a few of the shots I felt I had a good one of Kaitlyn but not of Teagan. So I started focusing my attention on her. This just makes her wild.
Anyone have pets? You know how you can clap or make a strange noise and the animal will look at you? Kids don’t work as easily. I made noises, talked to her, pleaded with her, lied that I had a lizard, but Teagan would not hold eye contact with me. “Teagan, look at me.” “I am.” As she is clearly looking at a tree, the sky, the ground, anything and everything but me. “Teagan, look at me!” “I am looking at you!” I have no idea what she is looking at but if it was me I wouldn’t have been turning so red. At this point I have enough avant garde pictures of her to fill a book and a few pictures of her looking at me with strange faces of her holding up “dinosaur claw” for the camera.
Apparently the group shot isn’t the problem, Teagan is.
This year I thought I would try a different approach. I want to have three pictures on the card one of Teagan, one of Kaitlyn, and one of Hubby and me. That way I could capture each one of us perfectly. Group photos in the past have been so hard to get everyone to smile and look at the same time. By the time it was over my frustration was so high it was almost not worth it. Except I must fulfill the duties for the Christmas card vogue.
I started the day by showering the bears, blow drying their hair and trying to curl the longer pieces. My curling iron is the crappiest ever made and it’s older than dirt. Plus the bears have never had their hair “done” before. This made for no fun for Mommy. Not wanting the normal frustration of the Christmas card incident I quickly gave up and decided they were cute enough. After I put them in their pink girly outfits from their Aunt Lori I let them loose into the yard so I could commence snapping away and get a lovely sunshine happy shot.
I’m optimistic.
I let them run around and play with flowers and sticks and I clicked away. After looking through a few of the shots I felt I had a good one of Kaitlyn but not of Teagan. So I started focusing my attention on her. This just makes her wild.
Anyone have pets? You know how you can clap or make a strange noise and the animal will look at you? Kids don’t work as easily. I made noises, talked to her, pleaded with her, lied that I had a lizard, but Teagan would not hold eye contact with me. “Teagan, look at me.” “I am.” As she is clearly looking at a tree, the sky, the ground, anything and everything but me. “Teagan, look at me!” “I am looking at you!” I have no idea what she is looking at but if it was me I wouldn’t have been turning so red. At this point I have enough avant garde pictures of her to fill a book and a few pictures of her looking at me with strange faces of her holding up “dinosaur claw” for the camera.
Apparently the group shot isn’t the problem, Teagan is.
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