Cupcakes

I'm a wee bit obsessed with cupcakes right now.
I know, I know, its all the rage.
I just feel like it might be something that I can actually do.
A cake is too much to eat, and I am a totally idiot when it comes to frosting one.
A cupcake is small, and there is really nothing to frosting them...right?
I took a class with a friend and came home with a bunch of cool recipes, and these beauties to eat.
I also did these ones for Dr. Seuss Birthday, and all said and done they turned out ok.
And then I found a recipe for Vanilla Chai cupcakes. It looked really yummy, and I experimented a little bit. Tried using up some of the HUGE bag of flax I have in the fridge in place of the eggs. I think that might account for the fact they didn't rise....or I might have over beaten the batter...who knows.
And then I opted to use shortening for the frosting...and discovered that I don't really like shortening. But instead of throwing it all away, I frosted the rest quickly and sloppily, and fed them to my family.
They are kind of like goats.
They will pretty much eat anything that isn't nailed down.
I am hoping to get a lot of use out of the standing mixer I am borrowing from mom...and hoping to try a whole bunch of cupcake recipes and finding a few gems that are really yummy!
My kids will love me for this right???

Oh Barf (cont)

Aaaannnnddd now Brynn's got it.
I am ready to fork out some money and live in a secluded hotel by myself for a couple of days.
Seriously. I. Need. A. Break.

Oh Barf

On Sunday night #2 went to bed declaring that he needed a break from school and wasn't going to go the next morning, so I had no sympathy for him Monday morn when he woke up and said that his tummy hurt.
In fact I think my exact words were "Yeah, right. Get dressed."

We pulled into the school parking lot and he asked for a bag to barf in. I called his bluff and tossed one back to him. "Go ahead", I said over my shoulder.
Then I looked in the rear view mirror.
And noticed his face was flushed.
Very, very flushed.
And he was gagging.

When we got home a few minutes later, he ran into the house, and threw up.
6 times.
It was a loooooooonnnnnggg day for me.

Maybe I should believe him when he says stuff like that?

Thursday night at dinner, while she was prancing around, spinning, dancing and singing, Maeve calls out "My tummy hurts".
She then downed most of her dinner, and some whip cream off her pie.
She continued to complain as I made her clean up, and I dismissed it as a convenient stomach ache. You know, the kind that that you get when you don't want to do something?
I used to get them all the time.
Especially right after dinner when my sister and I had to clear the table and do the dishes. I would skip off to the bathroom, and see how long it would be before she realized she was doing all the work, and come pounding down the hallway yelling at me.

We loaded all the kids in the car and headed home. 2 blocks before we turned into the driveway, I heard the dreaded splash.
And then smelled it.
I pulled over, and frantically looked for something to catch whatever was still going to come out.
The hubs, out of instinct, put his hand out to catch it.
*Which by the way, he now regrets that choice*
We drove home windows down, and the rest of the kids gagging.

Guess I should have believed that one too!
I wonder how long its going to take me to start catching on to this "My tummy hurts" thing....

Dr Seuss Cupcakes

Brynn's teacher asked me to make some cupcakes for Dr Seuss birthday. I said "sure!!!", thinking that I could find something really cute to do. I found two ideas on pinterest that I thought for sure I could do. Mostly because I stink at frosting, and these ideas used marshmallows for cat in the hat type hats, and cotton candy for Thing 1 and Thing 2...both of which I didn't think I could screw up.
I pre-baked my red velvet cupcakes (gag) and pulled them out of the freezer the night before so that they would be ready to go early in the morning to frost.
Here's what I learned:
When your house is 50 degrees inside, frosting is hard as a rock.
My "tools" for frosting are terrible.
When I am under stress at 6am, 3 kids prancing around me in the kitchen is enough to produce tears.
I stink at frosting things.

I almost threw them all in the trash and bought some, but thankfully my ever calming hubby talked some sense in me and kept me focused.
They did turn out well, but I seriously need to learn some things so I don't stress out so badly in the future.

Fund Management

Another "check" off my to-do list.

Hopefully this will help the kids understand a little bit more about money.
And hopefully they won't miss these super cute piggy banks - cause I am definitely going to....

Memories

This kinda reminds me of when we first got married.


Nothing like walking in to your bedroom and seeing a surfboard resting against the wall...

Gone Fishin'

Rich took the kids and the "cousins" out fishing. I think they had a great time.
There was some casting, some splashing, and some log rolling....apparently.
And while he was away conquering nature with 5 kids and some fishing poles, I was at home conquering this guy.....
I got the short straw....

Daddy Diaper Change

Rich had to do an emergency diaper change at another church the other night. He grabbed the trusty diaper change kit out of the car, but apparently I forgot to put a diaper in it last time I emptied it. (oops)
He had to snag a size 1 from the church nursery supply.
Uhm, Nolan is NOT a size 1.
Not. At. All.

Games

#4 is constantly on the go.

A little game of "turn your back and you won't be able to find me for a few heart stopping minutes" is always fun...
And so is the game "I'm was gonna attempt to climb on the table because you won't let me stand on it anymore, but I got stuck, so stop taking pictures of my predicament and help a brother out".


(I think this one was more fun for me then him.....)

The Many Faces of #4

Good thing he's cute. His antics sometimes are almost enough to push me over the edge....

Valentines Day

Here's a summary of our Vday.
French Bread Casserole (sooooo yummy) for breakfast.
A few little gifts for the kiddos.
A little gift for the hubs.
A little gift from the hubs.
A day of heart themed food.
A day of errands for me (and a semi "day off" since I didn't have to work in the classrooms as well).
A few class parties where the kids handed out the Valentines that I made. (yes, me. not them, me. - thank you pinterest for a candy free idea!!!)
A yummy (and early dinner) for the kiddos, followed by an early bedtime.
And then....
An amazing candlelit dinner for me and the hubs courtesy of Trader Joe's.
And last but not least, another amazing memory to tuck away and cherish for years to come.

Chalk Makeup

The girls found yet another new use for sidewalk chalk when we were up at Clearlake a few weeks ago.....

"Creative" Feeding

This kid gets away with everything! He is the one you will find on top of the table during meal time because it's the only place that he will actually eat anything. We have never had so many problems getting any of the kids to eat. I just don't get it...
I keep waiting to see him loose his balance and topple to the floor. It's slightly terrifying...

Thorn Goblinsnap

It all started at the dentist during our last family appointment in the beginning of January.
I was looking at Cannon's teeth before he went in to have them cleaned by the assistant, and noticed that his adult tooth was already growing in behind his baby tooth.
And when I mean growing in, I mean, almost as tall as the baby tooth.
Apparently I missed this.
And so did Rich.
And when it's all said and done, it's totally his fault because he is the "ok with teeth" guy, and I am the "head between my knees, gonna pass out, not ok with teeth" girl.

Anywho.
When we went in to see the dentist I basically threw Rich under the bus and blamed him for his lack of observation powers when it comes to dealing with the kids teeth.
Sad, but totally true.

The dentist gave us two weeks to get that sucker out, otherwise he would take care of it, to the neat cost of $50 or so.
You can bet that we worked on it.
Or should I say, I nagged Rich, and he worked on it.

Well, last night they got it out.
There was some shrieking.
Some cheering.
And then there was me, pacing like a caged animal, cleaning anything in my path to work out my anxiety.
I have some issues.
Obviously.

I called out some helpful tips (that I have heard about, because I certainly haven't tried them) from the hallway, and with a washcloth, some elbow grease, and a determined dad it came out!


We got to pull out the long awaited tooth fairy pillow, and he wrote a note with a bazillion questions to be answered, and waited for his tooth fairy.


His tooth fairy (Thorn Goblinsnap) answered all the questions (every. single. one) in itty bitty writing, left him a crisp (actually, totally wilty, old and dirty) dollar bill and he is one happy kid!!! Welcome to the world of big boy teeth buddy!