The Challenge

For some time I have (irrationally) desired a stand mixer. As time has gone by this has developed very specifically into a Kitchenaid Artisan stand mixer in tangerine orange or buttercup yellow. Not that I plan to redecorate the kitchen to match. That's just insane.

But as you may or may not know, those mixers are a little expensive. It's not something I'm comfortable asking for as a gift. Chris, being awesome, said I could go ahead and get one. My subtle hints that I needed one really made his eyes roll though. However, it's not something I'm just comfortable walking into a store and buying.

So I have issued myself a Challenge. Now, I've never been great at motivating myself. Workouts and diets fall to the wayside after a couple of days. So when I discussed this Challenge with Chris, I'm pretty sure he was chuckling on the inside.

Many of you have seen this cork board at our house in the dining area. It contains little hanging envelopes for coupons, the calendar and, among other things, the CFO list.

(wow, I need to clean that up)

I can't remember if I've told you about my Chief Family officer list or not, but it's a list of chores that I made so I can keep track of what I've done and what I haven't done for a while. In my world I always just dusted, until I check the CFO list and see it's been an embarrassing amount of time. The list is split up into weekly chores (with five columns for the four to five weeks in a month), monthly chores and seasonal chores.



Here's where the Challenge comes in. I have never once completed every chore on a CFO list. You know, things just get prioritized and polishing the silver just doesn't happen four times a year like it should be.

My goal this July is to completely finish my CFO list, even the seasonal items that don't need to be done until the end of August. Then I will claim my prize!

(And I haven't mentioned this to Chris, but maybe each month after July I will have additional challenges that will result in fun mixer attachments like an ice cream maker)

Let them eat butterfly cake

For Josie's first birthday party, I wasn't obsessed with having a theme. I did, however, figure I would use the colors pink, orange and yellow. And I would also use butterflies. And so I began looking for ideas for butterfly cakes.

I thought to possibly just use a cake mold. But that would entail buying a cake mold.

I thought about cutting and carving a cake to look like a butterfly. There is a great suggestion of using a round cake, cut it in half and switch halves, then trim a little to make the two semi-circles into the butterfly. However, I seem to have massive crumb trouble whenever I level or trim a cake.

I thought about making a sheet cake and just drawing and decorating a butterfly on it. Boring!

And it was suggested to me to make a cupcake cake. I've read too much Cake Wrecks to even attempt a cupcake cake.

One of the first suggestions to me was to make chocolate butterflies out of melted chocolate. At first I dismissed that idea as too fancy, but after not liking any of the other ideas, I decided to go for it. I bought some white melting candies and melted them in the microwave. I drew template of a pair of separated wings on a piece of paper. I also drew antenna but decided not to attempt them. I put the paper underneath wax paper. I put the melted candies in a pastry bag and drew over the wax paper using the template for a guide. Once I finished one set I would move the paper template underneath the wax paper and draw another set of wings.

Even with the air conditioner running, it was a hot day. So I stuck each sheet in the refrigerator while I made the next sheet. I think I made 16 sets of wings all together. It was the first time I've done anything like this and it took a little practice. They turned out very fragile and I broke more than one while getting them off of the wax paper. Ok, I broke like six. Then I realized I probably shouldn't use a dinner knife to peel them off. Once I used a spatula, they came up nice and neat.

Next I placed a piece of wax paper with a crease into an open book. I put a small strip of melted candy down for the body, stuck the wings in and globbed more candy on top. Back into the refrigerator until cake decorating time.

I decided to make box cakes, fun-fetti for the sheet cake and chocolate cupcakes. The cupcakes just had frosting swirled onto them and butterflies randomly added.

The cake turned out gorgeous but still home-made looking. I loved it!

Here was the one butterfly that broke one wing. I thought it looked cute sitting on the flower.


Turns out that everyone else liked the cake and cupcakes. All of the cupcakes were gone and only a little corner of cake was leftover. There is no better compliment than that when backing.

He Is Their Father

My Darth Vader imitation is bad enough, so I'm sure having it typed out totally obliterates the reference.

So! For Father's Day I bought Chris something ultra-special. Well, I think it's ultra-special, everyone else may roll their eyes at me. It's Star Wars Pancake Molds! Oh, how I nearly shrieked when I found these. I had stumbled across the cookie presses, but was hesitant because actually decorating Star Wars cookies would be time consuming. Then I found the pancake molds and just bounced in my seat and giggled madly.

They worked surprisingly well even if they don't look as nice as the package. I did buy the fancy 'pancake pen' to squirt the batter into the mold. You can see where the different squirts overlap. I think it just makes Vader look scarier.

The molds don't sit flush against the griddle but didn't leak everywhere, so I'm cool with that.


The best thing is that when you put the pancake on the plate and pour syrup on or slather on the jam, it puddles up in the eyes and mouth and looks really cool and tastes fabulous.


Now every holiday will be celebrated with Yoda. Xander and Josie will find it strange that no one else gets clone pancakes for Flag Day.

For Sale

We're having a garage sale this weekend. During the past year we have slowly piled up things we haven't used. Then, a little over a month ago, Chris made me clean out clothes that I haven't worn in .... a while.

When I think "Hey, I had two kids" it's ok that I haven't worn those clothes. When I think "Hey, it's been four years since I've worn those and they don't fit", well, it's a little harder to justify everything. Plus, some of the clothes were a little dated. And Chris pointed out that other people could be wearing these nice clothes. So, with a few tears, I purged my closet and drawers.

My sister also is selling stuff at the garage sale. Apparently she had a friend come over to help and her friend had to take the role of Chris.

For my mom, who I know will read this, T and I are not becoming you and Aunt K. Even if we do have the same pair of shoes on the garage sale.

Every time one of her shirts was sold today, T would get all nostalgic and teary eyed. I'm happy to say, I didn't miss the clothes a bit. Even letting go of my Reality Bites CD was ok. Wait, did I just date myself?

Happy Spring!

I love spring time in our yard. The daffodils were especially nice this year. They are spread out in patches all around the back yard and, even on a gloomy day, they seem like little spots of sunshine. Every year, without fail, the daffodils will bloom and then get snowed on. I used to worry about them, but I've come to realize that the flowers probably expect the snow, this being Ohio and all.


Our front plots have tulips. Our first year, the tulips were all bright red and yellow with a couple of purple hiding in the corners. However, we take advantage of the 10 free bulbs from a local nursery and have added in some white ones.

Yeah, there must be some cross-pollination thing going on. This year there are some gorgeous color combinations coming up. Yellow with red edges, red with yellow edges, white with purple edges, they are all so fun.

I have no idea where the pink tulip came from, but it is a beautiful shade and I want more.

And below is the picture of the really weird ones. They are shorter than the rest, possibly because they are further under the tree. At first glance they look diseased, but if you look closer they are just a strangle mottled white and purple combination. We definitely did not plant these and I have never seen anything like them (I say like I am some sort of tulip expert).

I hope everyone has had a chance to 'stop and smell the roses' with the some of the gorgeous weather we have had this spring.

Emergency!

Yesterday at about 4 pm Chris calls me and the following ensues.

Chicks: Stop what you are doing and get on the computer now.

Hugs: Ooooookay. But my student will be here for tutoring at any minute.

Chicks: Well, she will have to wait!

I do not question this but assume something monumental has happened like a plane into a tower or landing in a river, or possibly the death of someone. So I apprehensively wait for the computer to boot up. And I try not to make a crack about how the new RAM in the computer does not seem to be making it faster, because joking would have been inappropriate in the face of the unknown disaster I am about to read about.

Hugs: I assume I need internet?

Chicks: Yes. (You can hear the tension.)

Hugs: Ok, where do I go?

Chicks: pearljam.com

At this point I assume that Eddie is hospitalized or Stone is dead. Then it clicks.

Hugs: You need me to order tickets, don't you?

Chicks: Yes! Hurry!

Where resolutions last one and a half months

I never told you what my New Year's resolution was, did I? Nope, I didn't think so.

It's to be nicer.

Now I imagine there are several of you out there who are thinking that resolution is crazy. "Hugs is the nicest person ever." While I appreciate that thought, I'm not perfect. The rest of you are thinking "It's about time."

Anyway, my resolution was, specifically, to tell people to have a nice day. Like at the grocery store, the bagger puts the last bag of groceries into my cart and mumbles something to me. I look him in the face and reply "Thanks, you have a good day." And I mean it. I want him to have a nice day.

While there isn't always a reaction, it's been nice to see people give me a genuine smile. They can tell I'm saying something sincere and I'm taking the time to notice them.

This has actually been a good resolution in that it's lasted a bit longer than others from years past. Last week I realized I'd driven away from the bank drive through without more than a distracted "Thanks, you too" when the teller told me to have a nice day. Ah, I guess I'm still not perfect.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share this in case any of you'd like to try it.

Where my head is warm

For Christmas I received Luxury Yarn One Skein Wonders. I was ok with it but didn't think I'd get much out of it. I mean, I'd have to either special order the yarn or make the drive to an actual yarn shop and bring both kids with me. And I'll let your imagination play with the idea of Xander in a yarn shop.

However I stumbled across a pattern for a hat. And I could easily picture the hat in a color I need and I could picture me wearing it.

I really don't knit much for me. As you've seen from previous posts, I like making things for friends and family. Heck, my sister even asked for another pair of pajama pants for Christmas this year, so I must not be making bad things.

So I actually did trek to a yarn shop with both kids (Xander was distracted by the yarn balls so didn't make a big mess) (the balls were not just piles of yarn, they were purposefully made into balls) (that being said, the yarn balls were supposed to be decorative and not play things). The store did not have the specific type of yarn that the pattern called for, so I pondered over the assortment they did have. I bought some and went home and practiced to make sure I had the right size needles.

And I made myself a hat. With a lace pattern even. Just in time for Snowmageddon to strike!



It's by no means perfect, but you can't see the mistakes unless you're looking. So this picture distracts you from the mistakes by the presence of my nose looking huge. Not flattering, but you're supposed to look at the hat.


Oh, and if for some reason you are knitting a pattern from a book, always check for corrections on the internet first. I had to undo two rows to fix the decreases in the top.

Where no returned mail gets lost

While sending out Christmas cards this year, I realized that we were out of return address labels. The reason is probably because I didn't donate to the causes that sent me return address labels.

And by the way, let me say that I always have guilt when I use return address labels sent by causes that I didn't donate to. But it's such a waste to throw the labels away. But the labels were sent in good faith that I would donate. It's a conundrum. And half of it is Chris's fault because half of the labels are actually his.

Back to the story. We received a couple of Christmas cards that had these awesome stamps used for return addresses. One was a little bird silhouette with the address going around it, the other a letter with some decoration and the address going around. I immediately thought "I want!"

So I tried to find some on the internet, which was more difficult than I first thought it would be. The ones I found were ok but expensive, especially since I wanted a self-inking stamp (the better for Xander to stamp our address on all of the walls).

Then I remembered Etsy! If you like shopping, don't go to the link! Aw heck, I just lost three of my four readers. Ok, for the one person still reading, I found a plethora of stamps there and decided on this one:
Stamp

I'll let you know how it turns out. If it turns out really well, I'll send you a blank envelope with a fancy return address.

It's been too long

Wow, almost two months since I posted. Oops!

I haven't finished any big projects, so there isn't too much to post there.

I posted about the holidays in the other blog. But here's a funny conversation from while we were opening gifts.

Hugs: Oh, a gift card!
Bub: To....?
Hugs: (in a totally chipper voice) To ME!
*silence*
Hugs: Oh, you mean where to! Did I just have a blond moment? Is the camera still on? (My dad was video recording the event)

Teaching is going pretty smoothly, especially with the awesome babysitter. I'm tutoring two students who are both motivated, so that brings in a little extra spending cash.

My little brother was married last weekend, so I'll post some pictures of that soon (there are some already on Facebook).

Finally! No more cold legs!

Back in August, I made my way to the fancy yarn shop and bought fingering weight yarn (that means skinny for the non-yarn-initiated) and size 2 DPN (skinny double pointed needles) to make Fortuny Baby Leggings for Josie. It took me quite a while to choose a color, not because of the large assortment but because I just wanted the perfect color that would compliment Josie's coloring and would go with her outfits. I ended up with this nice shade of pink rather than a light pink or purple. The pattern itself wasn't difficulty, it just took forever since it was knitting with skinny yarn and skinny needles.


Ideally, these would be perfect to throw on under a dress on a cool autumn evening. This has backfired for two reasons. First, I'm not a big dress person, so I haven't bought Josie many (any) dresses. Second, I made the bottoms too tight. I was afraid Josie's chubby little baby thighs would be too big, but no I just made the ankle parts a little too snug. That's ok, they are still cute and even if Josie doesn't get good use out of them, there are many babies on the way.

It was disgusting

Chris picked up dinner the other night and we all sat down to dinner. At one point I reach to the counter for a biscuit and notice a slimey smear on the counter. Then I look a little closer.

Hugs: EW! There's a slug on the counter!

Chicks: Huh, there is a slug on the counter!

Like I would lie about having a slug on the kitchen counter. It obviously snuck into the house on the back of an advertisement that Chris picked up off of the lawn and then put on the counter. When I say 'obvious' I mean that the slug trail led directly back to the advertisement.

Well, I wasn't about to touch it. Chris seemed more concerned about eating (and I can't blame him, it was a late dinner). So I attempt to ignore the slug in the room. That lasted about five minutes. But when I looked, it was gone! The only place it could have gone was over the edge. I slowly walk around the counter, afraid that if I moved too fast it would jump out at me and slime me a la Slimer.

It took me a second, but I finally found the slug hanging from it's own slime trail like a spider. I, of course, shrieked and backed away. Chris, of course, got up and took a close look. Then he got the camera and took lots of pictures.

Chicks: Cool, you can see it moving.

By 'moving' he meant writhing on the end of it's slime trail as it ever so slowly grew closer to the ground.

Finally, Chris took it outside. But I now have a fear of slugs hanging from trees and me walking into them.

And now I'm hungry

Ah, to be 31. Older but wiser. I totally wore my tiara on my birthday last week, even though it felt a little silly to do laundry in a tiara.

Recently I've become a little obsessed with food blogs. To be more specific, baking blogs. Why don't I just come out and say it, cakes and cookies. Mmmmm. I even happened upon CakeLove at the library and read it. I read a cookbook. Yeah.

Anyway, for my birthday I tried my hand at my grandma's chocolate cake. I always use box mixes for cake, so it was a little weird to sift the flour and melt the chocolate. It looks all fancy with the drippy icing and cake stand, doesn't it? It was all I could do to keep my dad away from it until cake time at Xander's birthday party. It turned out pretty well, just oddly crispy around the edges.


I didn't forget about Xander's cake. I did use a butter cake mix for his and it tasted great. My mom had given a combo gift of a cupcake mold shaped like a penguin so I could make Xander a penguin cake for his birthday. I was a little late getting the icing done, so I used icing bought at the store which was a little thin for decorating. And I didn't want to buy black icing so I used blue. It took me a few minutes to figure out the eyes, but I just popped in a couple of chocolate chips. So here is Xander's blue, juggling penguin that breaks apart into cupcakes.

Just for Filler

I can't find the pictures I want to include in a blog I just wrote, so here's something to fill the time. It's been a while since I've done a 'Guess the Screen Capture', so here is one on long ago cartoons. Do you know what shows these are from? Leave your guess in the comments. I feel like I may have done these before...

1)

2)

3)

When my little pleasures collide

Dr. Horrible

plus

Cake Wrecks

equals

(Dr.) Horrible Sunday Sweets

I was going to make Xander a penguin cupcake cake (you read that right) for his/my birthday but maybe I need my own cake after all.

He laughed all the way home

Chris's mom visited last week and was kind enough to help out with the kids. One day we all piled into Maxxwell the Malibu Maxx and headed out for some errands in town. Things went smoothly and we finished up and headed home when we were stopped in a turn lane waiting for the light.

Just as the light changed, the man in the van next to us signaled for MIL (mother-in-law) to roll down her window. We give each other a look and she does. The man tells us that we have keys hanging from the back of the car.

Huh. I recalled Chris saying he couldn't find his keys for my car after he took my car the day before. So we thank the man, I pull around the corner and pull over.

Yeah, I don't have a keyhole in the back of my car. I always use my fob to open the trunk, so I don't pay much attention. There are definitely not keys hanging from the keyhole in the back of Maxxwell. So I thought 'he didn't say where they were hanging from...' so I look all over the back of the car. I open up the hatchback and look around. I let MIL look around. Nothing.

So maybe they were hanging off the edge of the bumper and slid off. We hop into the car and circle the block, checking for keys that may be in the road. Nothing.

We go home and check the car over again. Nothing.

I call Chris to tell him about this and Chris is like 'I have my keys in my pocket right now.'

By golly, I think I was punked.

All that work for one hour of wear

The Baptismal gown is done! Which is good since the Baptism was this past weekend. Even though Josie only wore it for about an hour, I'm really happy I made it. Not only did I learn some new things about sewing, it's a real boost to my ego that I can make something nice. Oh, it's by no means perfect. I could point out the mistakes. But unless you are better at sewing than me (yeah, Julie and Sarah, you can look away) you won't notice the mistakes.

I added the little flowers to the front for prettiness. I was going to add some more along the bottom seam but due to time I did not. I think it might have been overkill anyway.

The finishing touch was the shoes I found at the neighbor's garage sale. They are pink and cute!

I made cupcakes and Chris bought chocolate icing. I wanted to make little crosses out of sprinkles on each one but that didn't work out. I won't go into how many ways we tried to get it to work. Finally I just used the cupcakes themselves to make a cross.

Hopefully the cantoloupe will be this big

We received our CSA delivery again last week and it included one turnip. Yeah, only one. One the size of Xander's head!


Chris has picked several cucumbers from our garden and they are all curved at least a little. The other day I saw one and laughed.

Hugs: Chris, look at this cucumber! It's round!

Chicks: Or it's a cantaloupe and not a cucumber.

You know, that other part of my life

Ah. Isn't summer nice and relaxing? No school, just a newborn and toddler to sap my energy. But notebooks and pencils are showing up in the stores again, so classes are looming.

Last year, as I'm sure all of you remember, I taught and I tutored. Teaching was awesome, overall. Four students for 45 minutes a day? All of them highly motivated and intelligent? Awesome. They all earned their Algebra credit with flying colors and will start their high school careers with Geometry.

Or, as I found out yesterday, they will start with Geometry and Algebra 2. Told you they were motivated. One of the girls from my class last year lives in my neighborhood and I ran into her and her mother while out for a walk yesterday. The mother even inquired about getting extra help for student when school starts. Hello tutoring!

Yesterday afternoon that same student called and asked to stop by real quick. Turns out that she and her mother bought Josie a few gifts. They like me, they really like me!

As for tutoring last year, I let go of the high school student because she was not showing up and I'm pretty sure just using tutoring as an excuse to get out of the house. I did stick with the 7th grade girl who wanted to study ahead so she could get into my Algebra class. The testing to get into the class was in May and the results took until the very last day of school to get. Keep in mind that my job (the awesomest job) kind of hinges on students passing the tests to get into the class. It was a little tense.

The student I tutored was the only one to pass with flying colors! Yeah for her! And a little yeah for me! Her parents already told me that they talked me up to some future 7th grader parents, so possibly more tutoring!

(Um, about all of that tutoring... I have a newborn and toddler at home. Hopefully that will work out).

Of course, one student does not a class make. So after re-testing, five more students were added to the class. Again, yeah! Of course now I have the fun of being moved to the computer lab that does not have a chalkboard or smartboard. The computer teacher has a plan, so I'll let you know how that pans out. Oh, and the great fun of finding a new babysitter (for a newborn and a toddler already) for while I teach is only mildly stressing.

And finally, there are the classes I am taking so I can renew my teaching license which is expiring... right... now. It involves videos and books and lots of typing. Oh my. I received an A- in the first class. The second class is nearly done. Once I send it in and get the transcript and send in the license application I should be good to go. I hope. *gulp*

Xander's Room

Since we've moved Xander's room I have had to do a little work to make it 'his'. I decided that he needed to see his name in his room so Chris painted these letters white and I added yellow, blue and green stripes. It doesn't look great on the counter but I think it will look awesome on his light blue walls.


The flowery curtain that the room previously contained had to go. So I found this striped material that worked. This curtain turned out so well even if it does look slightly circus-esque.


And of course a matching pillow. I managed to whip this out today and even learned a new way to make a pillow cover. It's amazing what you learn when you read!


I know many of you are thinking "Wow, she has a newborn and a toddler and she's doing all of this?!" Well, the curtain was done pre-Josie. The letters were done while Josie napped and Chris had Xander. And the curtain was done instead of the massive amount of chores I haven't done in weeks. Obviously I have my priorities in the right place.