Call Me A Betty Crocker

Did you know there is a difference between being Betty Crocker and being called a Betty Crocker? If you want to know the difference, you can check it out here on my husband's blog. He'll let you in on the secret.

I, along with my dear friend Celeste, spent the morning creating in the kitchen.

We had so much fun.

A few weeks ago, I had a birthday lunch for Celeste. We were suppose to watch a girl movie, but we were distracted by a few websites. Celeste, Shavonne, and I (it was small, but intimate) had so much fun perusing a few websites. Once of which was Bakerella. If you haven't gone there, it is a must. We were quickly enthralled by her cakepops (blend the words cake + lollipop). She has made some darling ones for different holidays, cartoon characters, and just because. We knew we wanted to try them.

Plans were made.

Plans were kept.

And, they turned out so cute!! Don't you think:
Sorry my pics are a little blurry. I can't seem to get a good picture of them. Oh well! They taste as cute as they look. The inside is cake mixed with cream cheese frosting. Could it get any better then that?


If you go to the Bakerella website, you can see step-by-step instructions and pictures that turned out better then mine. For some reason, I couldn't get a good close up picture.

Warning: they take a long time, but are fairly easy. It's just time consuming. But, well worth the energy to make them, especially when it's time spent with a friend.

I can't wait to see the reaction when we take them to Bunco tonight.

Oh yea, here is another little something that I am taking with me. We had leftover chocolate, so I made some almond bark. I love it with the pink swirled into the chocolate. And, I wish I had thought to make more the the pink sunfloweres in my candy mold to line the platter. But, I think it is darling! I love the pink and brown swirled together.



I always tell Steve that we will cook together when he is retired. But, I think he should do the cooking and I should do the baking. I love sweets.

Anyone want to come to Bunco and try these yummy treats?

Easter at Our House

Here we are dyeing our Easter eggs:


Here we are Easter morning before the basket search.


And after.
Here's what our Easter breakfast looks like:


Now we are getting to the true meaning of Easter.


Ready for church.

I loved church on Easter Sunday! We had a truly amazing Sunday School lesson. Our teacher pointed out that Easter should be as spiritual and meaningful as Christmas. If not, more so. And, that Easter is just not a day, but a week full of events.

Did I think about the Savior as he would have returned to Jerusalem in the beginning of the week? Did I think of him teaching at the temple? Did I think of the Last Supper with his disciples? Did I think about the Savior as he would have entered the Garden of Gethsemane? Did I think of him bleeding from every pore? Did I think of him as he would have been lifted on the cross? Did I think of him as he atoned for my sins? for your sins?

Very powerful questions.

He also asked us to read John 20 before we went to bed that night.

Next year's Easter will be very different.

Trauma at the Easter Egg Hunt

Well, it didn't start out that way. See:
IT TURNED BAD

When the bell rang, Ethan got trampled. By whom, I am not sure.

That ended it for him.

He came crying to me, but I was trying to encourage Laney to get some eggs. (Parent's supposedly weren't aloud on the field.) So, my friend (thanks Sandy), was trying to encourage Ethan to go and get some eggs. I didn't handle it very well. I couldn't understand why he was crying and not focusing on the eggs. In the end, he just wanted to cry while hugged into my side. I was still trying to help Laney who was completely overwhelmed.

Did I mention that the printout that I read, was wrong. It said the hunt started at 10 a.m. It really didn't start until 10:30. And for those of you that know me, I am chronically early. We waited for about 45 minutes in the cold, drizzly weather. And two of my 3 kiddos either got no candy or barely any candy.

Which begs the question: Is it really worth it?

IT TURNED GOOD AGAIN

Afterwards, as we were driving home, I saw my friend and pulled to car over to say thank you for helping my son. At this point, she says that when her children found out that Ethan hadn't gotten any candy, they wanted to give him some. Could there be any better kids out there then that?

Me, being the emotional giant that I am--boy do I hate this about myself--got emotional. To see the happiness through the tears in Ethan's eyes when I told him was more then my little heart could bear!

I can only hope that my kiddos would so willingly do the same thing if the situation was reversed. Maybe they will have the opportunity one day to be so kind, and to make another child smile so brightly.

Outing Myself

So, today I was picking up around my house and I found a little toy that I have seen on the floor a hundred times since it came to live with us.

I threw it away.

It was easier to throw the toy away, then to put it away.

This, along with a similar post on another blog, started my wheels rolling, about things that I do, that I wouldn't want to be outed for. But, I've decided to out myself.

1. If I don't like the clothes that my children develop and obsession for, they mysteriously disappear.

2. I have re-gifted many items. Just because I can't use it or don't like it, doesn't mean somebody else can't or won't.

3. I drink the milk out of my cereal bowl.

4. Okay, so a friend of mine showed me that eggs have umbilical cords. Did you know that's what they were? I didn't. So now, I have to remove them before I eat them; a messy process. However, if I am making omelets for my family, I don't remove theirs. What they don't know won't hurt them.

5. My children have posted many hand drawn pictures on their walls. Once in awhile to make it look neater, I take a few and hid them. If they don't ask for them, I assume they don't miss them, and they go in the circular basket. (Trying Randy Pausch, I am trying.)

6. I may give my kids the beaters, but I always take a BIG spoonful of batter for myself.

7. I have bought treats intending that they be for the kids, but have hidden them in mine and Steve's secret hiding places where the kids won't find them.

8. Have forgotten to place the reward for a lost tooth, only to have to secretly place it there while "looking" for it with a distraught child who thought the tooth fairy hadn't come.

9. On occasion, I have let my boys take care of their sister so I could get a little more sleep.

10. I have let my children have chocolate cake for breakfast once to twice.

Now it's your turn. What things are you guilty of?

Some People are Clever, I am Not

Okay, so we all know that my sense of humor has a lot to be desired. Steve always says I am funnier when I don't try.

All, I can say is...my sister gets me. (me sticking out my tongue here).

I love humor that has a clever twist to it. The stupid humor, as displayed in movies such as Dumb and Dumber, or What About Bob all leave me shaking my head wondering how anyone could find humor in it because it is so...well, stupid. Oh, but they do; my husband is one of them. I, however, love my husband so much that I am willing to sit through "one of those movies" just to hear him laughing.

One of the best sounds in the world if you ask me.

So, I really am not a man basher. We all have our faults, some just more then others. jk. If I ever meet anyone for the first time, I am the first to tell them that I really have no reason to complain about my husband. He is great. He cooks amazingly, he cleans, he reads to the kids, gives hugs for boo boos, and all at the same time.

So when my sister sent these to me, I immediately appreciated them for the clever little twist they offer. I wish I were as quick witted as this. Like my son. Like my husband.

I am digressing here. One morning Steve was on our computer and I was sitting on the floor, Indian style (I know, not PC) beside him. A 5 year-old Tyler came and sat on my lap. I love those morning cuddles. After a while, Tyler became Tyler and he started to wiggle. He just couldn't sit still. After what seemed the hundredth time of adjusting my nightgown, I said, "Tyler, stop wiggling! Your bony bum is hurting my legs." Without missing a beat, he says, "Well, your pricklies are huring my bum." Clever kid.

Back to what my sister sent to me. I laughed out loud on the in-law one of these. Enjoy.

THE SILENT TREATMENT

A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each
other the silent treatment.
Suddenly, the man realized that the next day,
he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight.
Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper,
"Please wake me at 5:00 AM " He left it where he knew she would find it.
The next morning, the man woke up, only to discov er it was 9:00 AM
and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and
see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed.
The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM. Wake up."
Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.


WIFE VS. HUSBAND

A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word.
An earlier discussion had led to an argument and neither of them wanted to concede their position.
As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs, the husband asked sarcastically, "Relatives of yours?"
"Yep," the wife replied , "in-laws


UNDERSTANDING WOMEN

(A MAN'S PERSPECTIVE)
I know I'm not going to understand women.
I'll never understand how you can take boiling hot wax,
pour it onto your upper thigh, rip the hair out by the root,
and still be a fraid of a spider.


CREATION

A man said to his wife one day, "I don't know how you can be so stupid and so beautiful all at the same time".
The wife responded, "Allow me to explain.
God made me beautiful so you would be attrac ted to me;
God made me stupid so I would be attracted to you!"

WHO DOES WHAT

A man and his wife were having an argument about who
should brew the coffee each morning.
The wife said, "You should do it, because you get up first,
and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee."
The husband said, " You are in charge of cooking around here
and you should do it, b ecause that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee ."
Wife replies, "No, you should do it, and besides, it is in the Bible
that the man should do the coffee."
Husband replies, "I can't believe that, show me."
So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament
and showed him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says.........."HEBREWS"

Icebreaker Triathlon

You rocked it!

I am so proud of you!

1 hour 15 minutes of endurance!

When can we do it together?

It was so great to be there to support Steve today as he participated in his first triathlon. I have to admit, that being the emotional giant that I am, I got emotional. We arrived about 45 minutes after the triathlon started. So, I really wasn't sure where Steve was. Quickly we found a spot where we could see both bikers and runners coming in.

Tyler was the first to spot Steve as he was making his way to the transition spot, ending his biking segment and starting the running segment.









I was glad he was running by too fast to see the tears in my eyes. What is it about seeing your husband fulfilling a goal?

Below, Steve is in the transition area, getting ready to drop off his bike (he's over the guys shoulder in the gray jacket):

As I watched him quickly don his riding gear, and head out running, I wondered how long it would take his legs to adjust. Wow, hard!

Then it was time to wait again.

We didn't have to wait long.

I couldn't believe it.

He was back in just about 20 minutes. Wow. I knew he could run 3 miles in about 20 minutes because he had done it during the Spiderman Fights Cancer 5K. But to do it in the same amount of time, after swimming and biking. What a man!

I was so excited for him as I saw him start up towards me...I mean the finish line.


As we were congregating around him to offer our congratulations, Steve offered up these words: That was the toughest thing I have ever done physically.

Way to go, hon.

And, here were the fans who came out to cheer him on.



And his biggest fan:


I am so glad to be on this journey together.

UPDATE: Here are his times:

Swim: 6:24
Transition 1: 3:24
Bike: 41:11
Transition 2: 1:02
Run: 23:04

Update

Here is an update on this previous post, Worst Mom of the Year Award for Me.

My friend, whose beautiful daughters that I have the privilege of driving to school came up to me at church the next Sunday. She asked me if I had looked at the picture of them walking home.

I said sure. I am positive I had a perplexed look on my face.

She then asks if I had really looked at it.

Okay, I'll bite. What did I miss?

Did you see it?

Or like me, did you miss it?

Look again. (Sorry, I tried to repost it but couldn't find it on my computer. Click here to see it. Mom, don't forget that you can click on the picture to enlarge it. = >)

Here's the point: Ethan is carrying not one...but two backpacks. He carried Maranada's backpack home from school. What a sweet boy. And, let me just tell you that her backpack is ALWAYS heavy. What a sweet boy.

So, my friend proceeds to tell me that while I look at that picture and see a bad mom because my kiddos are walking home from school, she looks at it an thinks I am doing something right.

No not really.

That's just who my Ethan is...in spite of me.