Day 340 - The Cookie

This is the cookie

that knocked out this tooth


of this cute little girl.


She is hoping for a pink tooth fairy.

Days 338 & 339 - Projects

I've been working the last couple of days on the project list. (It's a mental list since a written down list would be too daunting.)

Project #1 - The Desk
My mom and I got 2 of the 8 pieces put together. I'm always happy when I have a chance to use power tools. This stuff went together so easily thanks to clear directions and an occupied baby.


Project #2 - The Allowance Chart


I worked on this while sitting at Luke's wrestling tournament. I have a list of jobs the kids can pick from each day and if they do 5 they get a buck. $7 a week should help Luke pay off the repair fee for his Nintendo DS quite easily. It will also support Maria's lip gloss and gum habit.


Project #3 - Maria's Costume
Luke and Maria are in a program called Odyssey of the Mind where they are creating a skit with certain guidelines. Today we finally got to Maria's costume which is a dog. We (uh, that really means my mom) took some old cat ears and transformed them into dog ears with some lovely brown fur. Luke's costume has been an on-going procrastination. His character is "The Pants". I'll let you know how that one turns out.

Day 337 - Crappy

I feel crappy today. So my normal wit and wisdom are out the window.

Today was spent couch bound. I'm not sure if playing on the computer all day helped me cope, or helped contribute to the feeling crappy. Hopefully I will wake up to my normal self tomorrow.

In other news, Luke threw down his Nintendo DS one too many times today, and it took its last electronic breath. Tomorrow, I am going to finalize the allowance chart so he can start saving for a new one. I'm thinking he'll be more careful with the next one.

Day 336 - Uh Oh

Remember the whole craft room makeover/organization thingy?

Maybe I didn't think it through all the way.


Let's start the bets on how many pieces there are in these boxes.

Day 335 - Luke

Of all the kids, Luke is the one acting out the most with Chris being gone. He is tired of being surrounded by girls. I don't blame him. He's got 2 sisters. His classroom is girl heavy ~ out of 20 kids, 13 are girls. In our neighborhood the seven kids closest to his age are girls.

Someday, he might like those odds, but right now he hates it. Girls just don't "get" him.

Two nights a week I take him to a wrestling club to have some boy time. (The girls tag along too.) Last weekend he had his first taste of a tournament. He wrestled three times. He pinned the first two boys. He lost to the third boy (who was 20 pounds heavier) but he didn't get pinned.

When I am in that room I feel what he feels for the rest of his days. I am out of my element. It's 100% male. It is stinky, sweaty, rambunctious, and has a forceful energy. It is loud, chaotic, and hypnotically busy. He doesn't get in trouble there. He obeys. He listens. It's perfectly fine that he is ADHD.


We've tried karate and we've had one miserable season of soccer. But I think wrestling is going to stick. I am looking forward to Chris getting home, roughhousing with him, and seeing how strong he has become.

Day 334 - Surprise Cupcakes

Today is Maria's 5 1/2 birthday. She has a July birthday so I decided to have her take treats into school today. Also, it was just a fun excuse to bake.

These cupcake are so easy and highly addictive. If you know me at all, you know that I despise canned frosting. This frosting is what absolutely puts them over the edge. I'm not sure kindergarteners will 100% appreciate them, but it's never too early to encourage "from-scratch." (Thank you to my neighbor Joey for the recipe.)

Heavenly Surprise Cupcakes

2 eggs
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1-1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Frosting:
2/3 cup butter flavored shortening
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 can (5 oz.) evaporated milk (I can't find a 5 oz can, so I used part of a 14 oz.)
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups confectioners' sugar

1.) First beat the eggs, sugar, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients and gradually add to the wet. Fill paper lined muffin cups 2/3 full. Lick off extra batter.


2) Bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 22 minutes. Cool completely.

3) For the frosting, cream the shortening, butter and sugar. Stir in milk, water, and vanilla. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Be sure to taste.

4) For this part a pastry bag with a star tip or a decorator tube is helpful because you are going to shove frosting down into each cupcake until they are stuffed like a jelly-filled doughnut.

See how they are fat and happy now!

5) Use the extra frosting for the tops.

I had plenty of frosting left over. I might make another batch of cupcakes so that it doesn't go to waste. In the future, I might cut down the recipe for the frosting so I don't have as much left over.

This makes about 24 perfect cupcakes. Enjoy!

Day 333 - A Better Day

This was one ugly up and down emotional weekend. It was enough to turn me into a regular Dr. Jekyll. No wonder no one wants to hang out with me. I think I need to work on that permanent scowl I've had going on for the last few months. I guess the 3 kids cramp up my social life as well. Yeah...we'll blame it on them. OK, moving on...

To help get myself out of a funk, I put down the computer and my somewhat imaginary friends, and got to crafting.

And with the stars all aligned and the kids finally asleep, I got some new items listed in my etsy shop.

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