Fun Monday - Hand's On Edition

Our hostess this week is Karisma and she has given us the following assignment:

I would like to see or hear about things you have made with your own two hands (or feet, Im not fussy!) We all have different talents and abilities, maybe you like to sew or knit, chisel or sculpt, draw or paint? Whatever your talent is, please share it with us this week.

So I started racking my brain and came up with several things I have made myself:

First - Cakes & Cupcakes

I have made all of my kids birthday cakes, whatever they decide on. I have also made birthday cakes for many other family members. Here are some of them:

Emma's Care Bear Cake

Grandma McKillip's birthday cake - chocolate cake with peppermint buttercream filling and chocolate buttercream frosting

Ian's Power Ranger cake

Ian's Scooby Doo Cake

Ian's Treasure Chest Cake (for a pirate party)

Zoe's Zoe Cake

Here is the cake and cupcakes I made for my father-in-law's 60th birthday

Zoe's Batman Cakes

Ian's 1/2 Birthday Cupcakes

Martha's Bridal Shower Cake

Death By Chocolate Cupcakes

Grandma & Grandpa McKillip's 65th Anniversary Cake (everything on there is edible)

Here I am (9 months pregnant with Zoe) making my "Welcome Home" cake - the one's the kids frosdted and decorated with my husband for the day I came home form the hospital with Zoe.

And here's the actual cake

Next are cookies and desserts:
I love to cook, and I have several main dishes that are yummy, but my true passion is baked goods and desserts.

Charlotte's Web "Wilbur" cookies

Cherry Vanilla Ribbon Pie

Gingerbread Cookie Christmas Tree - I made this with my two daughters

My Mom's Birthday Apple Crisp (my parents are not cake people)

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

Shamrock Pie - a St. Patrick's Day Tradition

Triple Chocolate Torte

Now here are a few things that are not edible that I have made.

Block Guy - made this while playing with my kids one day

This drawing of my three kids

The skeleton costume for my son when he was four years old

Zoe's Christmas stocking - (I've actually made all of my kid's Christmas stockings, this is the only one I have a picture of)



I have made lots of other thing, too. I can cross stitch and I scrapbook and make cards. But for now, this is what I have to show you. Can't wait to see what the rest of you have made!

Bullying Sucks!

After dinner on Tuesday night my son non-chalantly mentions that his best friend since pre-school went to look at another school that day and that he is probably going there next year. I looked at him in disbelief. First of all that he could mention a thing so casually. Second of all because I thought he must be wrong. This boy's brother and sister went to OLGC from pre-school through 8th grade, and I assumed he would to. I was incredulous. I probed Ian for as many facts as I could. This friend had indeed shadowed students in another school for part of the morning. He seemed likely to be going there. But there was no reason why. Ian couldn't give me any and he didn't ask his friend.

So Tuesday night I had a pit in my stomach all night. I decided I would call this friend's mom and ask her directly what was going on. So yesterday I called and heard the sad news. Her son is indeed going to this other school next year. Apparently three of the boys in my son's class have been bullying him for at least a year, maybe longer. They haven't been physical, but have been very mean in saying horrible things about this child. They exclude him, or when he is included, find ways to both belittle him and set him apart from the rest of the group. When I heard this I was shocked, to say the least. I wasn't completely surprised at two of the boys involved, but the third one I had no idea about. She asked me if Ian had any trouble with these boys, and I said none that I knew of.

One of the big problems at Ian's school is that it is very small. There is only one of each grade. So there is no chance of relief from year to year with changing classroom make-ups. This poor boy is looking at five more years with these same kids. I don't blame them for switching schools.

But the more time I've had to think about it the more angry I get. These same three boys will just stay here and probably find a new target once this boy is gone. Meanwhile, a family that has supported this parish and school tremendously are having to move their child to another school because of pure meanness. And my son is going to lose a best friend. How is that fair?

I wish there was something I could do. I'm at a loss right now.

When I told Ian I had called his friend's mom and it was indeed true that his friend would be going to the other school next year, he asked why. I explained that three boys in their class have been repeatedly making fun of his friend. When I said that Ian immediately named the three boys. When I brought up a few of the situations that I was told about Ian confirmed that they had happened. I am so sick about this. After talking to Ian about this kind of behavior and why it should never be tolerated I asked him how he would feel about going back there next year without his best friend. He said it would be different but that he still wanted to go back.

Now I'm worried that he is next on this little posse's hit list. I'm also worried about what he'll do without his best friend. I have never understood why some children are very cruel. I especially don't understand it when they are going to a good Catholic school and I know two of the three sets of parents. Do I tell them that their kids are the cause of this student's leaving? Would they believe me? I think I would want to know if my kid was doing this kind of thing. Is it too late for these kids to change? They are only in third grade, for goodness sake. If they can't change, who can? I am so angry over this. And really, really sad.

Zoe and Frieda

I was reading Peanuts in the newspaper this morning and noticed a distinct similarity to the character Frieda and my Zoe.

Here's the comic:

Take a close look at the second panel. The little girl with the naturally curly hair is holding a cat the exact same way my kids hold our cat, Bumper.


Here is the panel:

Now, here is Zoe holding Bumper:


They look exactly the same!

Cake Time

Over the weekend I had the privilege of making two cakes for two different celebrations. The first was a communion cake made for a friend. She requested a marble cake. Her only requests for the decorations were a cross of some kind and her daughter's name and the words "First Holy Communion." She also wanted some pink on the cake. I decided on a fondant covered sheet cake (equalling two cakes total). I made a yellow cake from scratch and combined it with a chocolate cake, then marbled it in the pan. I then made a vanilla buttercream that I generously covered the cake with. On top of that went a layer of my homemade marshmallow fondant, then my pink fondant flowers in the shape of a cross. I added the words in pink buttercream and finished the cake with white and pink fondant balls around the bottom. It was a lot of fun to make.



The second cake I made was for my husband's grandmother's 90th birthday. I was inspired by a variety of cakes from this cake designer, but mine didn't come out quite how I saw it in my head. I still like it, but I think the flowers around the base of the first layer are too big. The cake is a from scratch chocolate cake with homemade vanilla buttercream and then covered in my marshmallow fondant. The bottom tier is a single layer of cake, the top tier a two layer cake. I had lots of extra batter and also made 24 mini cupcakes that I forgot to take a picture of. They were frosted in pink vanilla buttercream and topped with a mini purple fondant flower.



Celebrating with Grandma Van was really wonderful. Two of her grandchildren and two of her great grandchildren came a long way to celebrate with us. We are so lucky that we live close and are able to see her more frequently. It was wonderful to see the joy and surprise on her face when she saw everyone at her party.

Giddy!

I used my new mixer yesterday! (I must admit, I planned my meals so that I could start using it.) I made homemade pizza and it turned out awesome! I used the bread hook and made a double batch of homemade pizza crust and then used my pizza stone (a product rarely used in my house) and my more traditional pizza pan. I have to admit, the pizza stone turned out a better crust, but my kids loved their cheese pizza made on the traditional pan. My son told me to make it this way from now on! I'm not only glad at how easy it was to make and use, but now I'm going to start using my pizza stone, which before this sat sadly under used. Yum!

Cookbook Heaven

I have to come clean. I have an addiction. I am addicted to cookbooks. I love them. I love them a lot. I have an entire shelf of my kitchen devoted to my cookbooks (and one of my daughter's, but I digress.) I also have several cookbooks down in my basement, as well as too many cooking magazines to count.

While I have given up all but one of my subscriptions to these magazines, and I only have one cookbook left on my Amazon.com wishlist, I still love to sit and pore over a new cookbook. On those rare occasions when Brendan and I end up in a bookstore, I invariably gravitate to the cookbook shelf. I spend hours looking up recipes on the internet, and I have a folder bursting at the seams with printed recipes to try.

I can't help myself.

Then as I was searching pictures of cakes online I came across a great little blog of a woman who has started a cake business for herself. Her cakes are beautiful, mine don't even come close to comparing. But, she mentioned something about how she went to the library and checked out every book she could on cake making and decorating.

Then the light bulb went on in my head. (It never occurred to me before, despite the fact that I'm at the library every week getting books for my kids and dvd's for my husband and I to watch.) I can get any number of cookbooks out of the library. Cookbooks all about casseroles, muffins, or appetizers. They have so many, and if they don't, I can request it from another library and still pick it up in mine. I am in cookbook heaven. I currently have seven cookbooks checked out. It doesn't matter that I can't possibly read everything these books have to offer. I probably will only make a few of the recipes. But oh, the possibilities. And the looking. And the planning. Why did I never think of this before?

I See Some Gratuitous Baking In My Future

I did it! Today I went to Kohl's and bought myself a KitchenAid stand mixer! I started looking at them seriously at the end of winter and the more I looked the more I wanted to buy one.

I must first state that I have never owned a stand mixer. And while my mom currently owns one, I have never actually seen her use a stand mixer. All my life growing up she used a hand mixer. So when I got married at the ripe old age of 22, I saw no reason to register for anything besides a hand mixer. I got a KitchenAid hand mixer that I have used frequently since my wedding day almost 13 years ago, and it still works great.

But as I've begun baking more and more, making cakes, frostings, cookies, cheesecakes, cinnamon rolls, pizza crusts, bread and muffins from scratch, I've started to wonder how nice it might be to not have to stand holding a mixer and spinning a bowl for ten minutes beating royal frosting. How if I hadn't completely softened my butter or cream cheese, I could still start the mixer and it would be creamed with the sugar in no time.

So I started researching stand mixers. I had decided on the KitchenAid pro 5 mixer, but had a hard time finding it in stock at many stores, especially in the color I wanted. So, I waited and started looking around again. I watched Alton Brown use a KitchenAid stand mixer on his Food Network show, and found my desire to own one grow stronger. I grew impatient. I searched the internet for deals. I visited kitchenware stores to see if they carried my coveted stand mixer. I weighed my options.

Then, it happened. I received my Kohl's ad with 30% off on the cover. And inside, the KitchenAid pro 600 was on sale. With my discount it would be almost the same price of the pro 5 with shipping and handling (I was considering ordering it online for awhile). So I headed to Kohl's today and there on the shelf were two red ones, a white one, and my licorice black pro 600. I lifted it onto the cart, and carefully made my way through the aisles. I passed a man who said he wanted that one bad. We discussed stand mixers for awhile and he told me I would love it. I headed for the register and bought my pretty black mixer. I brought it home and cleaned a space on the counter for it. It fits perfectly under my cabinets and is waiting to be turned on and start mixing things.

I can't wait!

On a side note, I have to thank my wonderful husband for always telling me to save my two savings bonds I received as high school graduation gifts for something for myself. There have been many times during our marriage that I thought of using them to buy something for our house or for the kids. Instead I got to buy my dream mixer. Thank you!

Good Morning

Everyone should have the opportunity to spend a crisp Spring morning taking a bike ride around the block with your four year old daughter while she sings "Mary Had A Little Lamb" at the top of her lungs.

Best morning I've had in a long time!

Neighborly Good-Bye

For the last almost two years we've lived on an amazing street in a humble little subdivision in Illinois. Our neighbors are fun, and their kids are nice and always willing to play. This past Spring two of our neighbors on our side of the street have moved. One just to Michigan, but another good neighbor left today for Beijing, China.

Since we moved in these neighbors welcomed us warmly and always made us feel a part of the street. Their son and daughter played frequently with my kids and I talked to their mom often. I didn't meet their Dad until late this winter and managed to embarrass myself as I attended their daughter's birthday party wearing my Ohio State jersey and bragged about how Ohio State beat Michigan, not knowing he went to grad school at Michigan. He forgave me, since they scheduled the party to start before the end of the game.


Here is a picture of all the girls from our side of the street. The third one from the left is the one who played with my Emma regularly. Her brother was just as nice and sweet. We wish them a safe trip, an interesting and fun new life in China, and many wonderful experiences. You will be sadly missed by all of us here.

The good news is I've had lots of great things to do in the last week and a half! The bad news is that I've neglected this blog! Sorry. New updates coming soon!

Superstitious

I am not by nature a superstitious person. I do not forward on chain letters, a broken mirror doesn't frighten me, and I've even been known to walk under a ladder from time to time. 13 doesn't frighten me, although Friday the 13th can be a fun night. Full moons are beautiful to gaze at and spilled salt gets swept off the table and into the garbage can.

But right now I'm a tiny bit nervous about the mileage on my van. It is 66622. When I was in the 66,500's, I kept thinking how I didn't really want it to get to the 66600's. And when it turned I watched it with a slight feeling of dread. Now I'm thinking of reasons to drive places and actually glad that I have to drive my kids 12 miles round trip to school each morning.

Within a week or so it should be in the 66,700's, but until then I'm driving extra carefully.

I Hate Rude People!

I am really tired of going places and people on cell phones thinking they own the world! I have been going to the same library for eight years now, and in the last year I have encountered more and more people using their cell phones LOUDLY in the library. And not for emergency calls, but just chatting.

The latest was today in the children's area. I was looking for some books when I actually heard this, "You're shitting me." I turn to look, and there is a woman, no kids, sitting on the sofa talking on her cell phone. I'm assuming her kid was in the storytime in the room off of the reading area. So since she had no kids, she thought she would just make a few phone calls! That's fine and dandy, except for the fact that the library bars use of cell phones inside and she was using foul language in a children's area! She couldn't be bothered to step outside of the library to have her conversation because you know, she wanted to talk! Aaargh! I hate rude people.

Cleaning Joy

I know this is both ridiculous and disgusting, but I felt true happiness today. My bathrooms were disgusting. In the last week our family was hit with a nasty ass bug that left every single one of us either vomiting or having diarrhea. I'm sure that's a fact most of you could have lived without, but I'm all about the facts here. Consequently, every bathroom in my house was filthy. The toilets were especially gross, as either one of our heads or backsides were parked there several times over the course of the illness.

So today I'm finally feeling better and decided to tackle both the upstairs bathrooms. I didn't expect to feel such joy at peering at sinks with no toothpaste stuck in them, at eyeing the shiny mirrors, at gazing at a fresh toilet bowl with no orange or brown spatters. But to my surprise I felt a lightness that made me proud, proud to know we are no longer using facilities covered in crap and vomit.

Aahh, it's the little things in life that bring so much joy to my heart!

Was This Really Necessary?

Received a package of crap in the mail the other day and this ad was included in it. Now really, is a Mickey Mouse dressed like Elvis really something anyone needs? And what kind of person buys this stuff?


Some of the selling points include:

"Sparkles with over 80 faux jewels" - Ooooooh, faux jewels, just what this needs
"Edition limited to 95 casting days" - Great, only a few people will have one
"Only $19.95" - though I would have to pay sales tax as I live in Illinois, but the lucky collectors who live in North Dakota wouldn't have to
"The first-ever Mickey Elvis figurine from Hamilton" - because this was surely a market that needed to be tapped
"Every dazzling detail is simply 'ear-resistible'" - Couldn't resist a Mickey ear joke

What do you think Nikki, does your Elvis devotion extend to Mickey Mouse? I didn't really think so.

Signs Of Spring

Spring has finally sprung in my little neck of the woods. Since getting a digital camera several years ago, my interest in photographing nature has blossomed. I love that I can take multiple pictures of the same thing and not worry about wasting film. I like getting close-ups and trying different angles on the same subject. Even though I am not even close to a professional, I am proud and happy of the results I get. It brings me joy seeing the beauty around me, and getting to capture it on camera and possibly hanging it somewhere on my wall in my house gives me great satisfaction. I also love how personal the pictures in my home then become.

This past week I have been able to capture some pictures of the buds on a tree in my front yard and the flowers on a bush, also in my front yard. I love this time of year, when after a looooong winter the trees and bushes give showy displays of color, like they're saying, "We're back! Did you miss us?"

Here are a few of the pictures I snapped. Enjoy!

These first four are from a tree in the tree lawn.






These are from the bush in front of my house. Not sure what it is, we inherited it when we bought the house.

Fun Monday

Well, this better be fun, because my weekend (from Thursday on) was not quite fun. Two puking daughters, a sick husband, a nasty head cold, and corralling large numbers of children in the school cafeteria and trying to keep them quiet during the school musical = my weekend.

But I digress. Our hostess with the mostest, Southern Doll, has asked us to tell you the following:

What have you done in your life that was worth doing? I want to know the moments in your life that you hope will be the ones to pass through your mind when your time comes. I hope that doesn't sound too morbid. This doesn't necessarily have to be items you have checked off your Bucket List, it can be those small moments that made you smile, or the time you got that huge promotion you deserved, or the first time your baby smiled at you out of pure joy. I want to know all the moments, big and small, that make life sweet! If you don't already have a running list of these in your mind, you should! These moments help you remember how much your life is worth living, and we all deserve to enjoy it.

There are so many moments in life that make life worth living for me. I have been blessed to have a wonderful family and friends. In an effort to make this easier to read and hopefully not to boring, I am going to try to list some of these moments.

1. Being kind to Lauren in 7th grade, when no one else on the volleyball team was nice to her.

2. Being a friend to Tracey and Heather when they got pregnant in high school.

3. Pouring balloons over my grandfather's head on his birthday (I was 13) even though I was terrified to do it.

4. Interviewing my grandpa about his days as a bootlegger during prohibition.

5. Dancing with my grandpa (and my husband's grandpa) at family weddings.

6. Walking down the aisle with my Dad.

7. Marrying Brendan.

8. Writing notes to my students when I was teaching them.

9. Writing Adrian when I stopped teaching and seeing whet a wonderful young lady she is becoming.

10. Being pregnant four times - feeling my babies move inside of me.

11. Giving birth to my three beautiful children.

12. Volunteering at my kid's school.

13. Seeing my kids faces every year when I make them the birthday cake they request.

14. The year money was tight so my husband and I only spent $20 on each other for Christmas - I made him a little scrapbook about our life together up to that point.

15. Having our 10th anniversary dinner at home because Brendan had lost his job, and enjoying every minute of it.

16. Seeing my best friend, Aimee, become an amazing mom.

17. Going to my 5 and 10 year college reunions and remembering how much fun I had with some amazing men and women.

18. Giving the checkout girl at my grocery store a $25 gift card at Christmas - anonymously.

19. Going to Barenaked Ladies concerts and Barry Manilow concerts.

20. Surprising my Dad on his 60th birthday.

21. When my brothers and sister and I sent my parents to New York for three days for their 45th anniversary.

22. Going shopping with my mom the day after Thanksgiving for the last two years.

23. Having Thanksgiving at my house and having my mom help me make the turkey.

24. Hosting Christmas for my husband's family.

25. Calling my sister and talking about anything and everything.

26. Making my aunt a card every week and sending them to her while she undergoes chemotherapy.

Whew, I think I could go on for days. When I started I didn't know where I was going to go with this. But as one idea came into my head, another one would pop up and then another! I am truly blessed to have such wonderful people in my life that make this list so long.

Now head over to Southern Doll's blog and check out all the other Fun Monday participants.

Fun Monday

Our host is Nekked Lizard Man and Lady over here.

Their task this week is: FIVE PICTURES - FIVE WORDS PER PICTURE.
Any 5 (FIVE) pictures, any subject, and any 5 (FIVE) words to describe and/or explain each picture. CAN YOU DO IT???

Sounds fun, doesn't it? So without further ado, here are my five pictures.

St. Patrick's Day Family Fun

Cousins Forever At Morton Arboretum

Saturday's Breakfast - Made From Scratch

Husband, Love Of My Life

My Four Favorite (Happy) People

Now, head over to Nekked Lizard Adventures and check out the other Fun Monday participants!

Thumb Sucker

My youngest daughter is a thumb sucker. I'm not ready to say "was" yet, but I'm thinking I might be able to soon, maybe. Zoe was a thumb sucker from the beginning. I could not get her to ever take a pacifier, but her thumb worked wonders. She was a good sleeper from the beginning, also. Still is. I credit the thumb.

For the first three years, we only saw the thumb in her mouth when she was tired. The rest of the time it was on her hand next to her body, away from her mouth. Then somewhere between her 3rd and 4th birthday the thumb started finding her mouth more and more often. Watching TV - thumb in mouth, listening to a story - thumb in mouth, riding in van while taking brother and sister to school - thumb in mouth. My husband and I decided to take a page from my sister's parenting book (she had two thumb suckers) and instead of outright outlawing it, we told Zoe she could only suck her thumb while she was lying in her bed. She was allowed to go upstairs and suck her thumb if she wanted to, but she had to be in her bed when she did it. Well, that didn't really work. We reminded, cajoled, played games, pointed, pulled, etc. And the thumb would come out of her mouth, anywhere from 2 seconds to 2 minutes, but then it would be right back in place. To say our method wasn't working would be an understatement. We weren't sure what to do next.

So in March we took her to the dentist for her checkup. We had the nicest dental hygienist, super sweet chairside manner and lots of smiles and fun questions. Zoe was enjoying the attention and doing an amazing job of letting people poke around inside her mouth. When the dentist came in she ate up all his silly jokes and attention. When asked about whether she was a thumb sucker, I gave an emphatic "yes." Dr. J. said he could almost see a thumbprint on the roof of her mouth, which I wouldn't be surprised of at all considering the amount of time her thumb was spending in her mouth.

Then Dr. J. said something that I had no idea would have such a profound effect on Zoe. He told her that she really shouldn't suck her thumb. That's it. On the way home Zoe mentioned how she wasn't going to suck her thumb all the way home. And she didn't. Then the next day on the way home from taking the kids to school she said it was hard not to suck her thumb, but she didn't suck it. And honestly, I haven't had to remind her once since that dentist appointment to take her thumb out of her mouth.

If I had known this was all it would take to get her to stop sucking her thumb, I'd have taken her a long time ago. Who knew?

Bunco Babe

Back in January my next door neighbor was hosting a monthly Bunco group that she was a part of and needed a sub last minute. Enter me. She called in the afternoon and asked if I'd be interested in playing. Having never played before, I was both a little nervous and curious. Being that most of the other ladies are from Naperville, I was a bit worried about my appearance. I took some time to straighten my (naturally curly) hair and change my sweater to something a little nicer. I applied makeup and after dinner walked over to my neighbor's house.

I played my first game of Bunco and had a great time. The women were funny and kind, the game was relaxed and filled with talk of kids, husbands, school districts, and reality TV shows. At the end of the night I was awarded a prize for achieving the last Bunco of the evening, as well as getting to pick a prize from the pile that everyone brings. The group was short one regular each month and I was asked if I'd like to join. I did and have played Bunco once a month ever since.

So, last night I played again and didn't have the most wins or the last Bunco, but I did have the most Buncos (3), which results in the biggest prize of the night!!! I received a $15 gift card to Target, and still got to pick a prize from the stash. I was near the end of picking, because they order it so that the person with the most losses gets to choose first and so on down the line. But, there were still lots of great choices left and I got a gift card to Oberweis Dairy - an amazing ice cream place here. It was a fun night!!