Guess what I did...

I bought some Silly Bandz.

You know. They're the newest and coolest thing to put on your wrist since awareness bands. Which is funny, because they aren't really new at all. When I worked at the zoo about 5 years ago someone gave me a pink one in the shape of a hippo. Not sure where she got it. Really cute, but I remember thinking, what do you do with this? We used them as actual rubber bands, or just kept them in our pockets. gasp!! I think I still have it, but I have no idea where it is.

I remember last year hearing about these things and I didn't know what they were for the longest time, and when I saw them , I was all, that's not new!

Anyhow, I didn't get the craze, and I usually don't jump on "fad"wagons, unless it involves wrist thingies. I do like those. I've been looking at them wherever I see them and figured I'd get them when I saw some cool ones.

And then,

I did.

I saw these at a sports store near here. Actually, I saw Univ Of Tenn ones (GGGGAAAAGGGGG) first, then I saw some Patriots ones (my team!). Then I saw the Cowboys ones and decided to get those because my husband is such a huge fan I thought he might want one of the star-shaped ones. Well, boy was I wrong!! :( He wants no part of them. I shoulda got the Patriots ones!!

Also, we took our Ziploc bag of garage sale money (dollars and coins, thank you very much) and proceded to Lowes to get our cabinents. I LOOOOOOOOOVE them !! Right now they are unfinished and the top is not attached, we'll get to that soon I hope. Meanwhile, I'm trying not to fill them up to much just to have to unload them again. It will be nice to have a higher surface to do my cakes on bc working at the kitchen table KILLS my back.

I'm also about to start my first official Cake-Decorating class. It is four weeks, once a week for 2 hours at Michael's. I am SO FREAKING PUMPED about it. The first class I'm taking is Fondant and Gum Paste. I need some serious help with Fondant and I've never even used Gum Paste and I'm not even sure what it is or how it's different that fondant!! I'm sure I'll be posting about all the cool new things I will be learning!

That's all I have time for now, I have so many things to post about but have been so short on time the last 3 weeks! Hopefully I'll be able to catch up soon.

p.s. My son Number One is quite the fishie now. You should see him! He loves being in the pool and even treaded water for 5 seconds today! It's so funny just seeing his little head bobbing up and down in the water. We are soooo proud of him.

Pool Party!

Our Neighborhood had a pool party this weekend, and each family had to sign up to bring a side or dessert. Guess which I chose??

These were super fun to make (drink umbrellas=FUN) and took me practically ZERO time, well, compared to the time it normally takes. They didn't turn out exactly as I wanted, but pretty close! I used some more of the afore-mentioned Buttercream for the frosting. Which, as it turns out, is not-so-good for an outdoor summer event. (think to yourself, what happens to butter when it gets warm???) Luckily, they didn't last long.

We also had our long-awaited garage sale this weekend, finally. It went okay, I guess, considering prettymuch NO ONE in my town was having any babies at this exact moment. That's who we were looking for! We did luck out as we were closing up shop when a lady that lives down the street who just-so-happens-to-be keeping her out of town grandSON next week and needed some gear and clothes! JACKPOT!

So, we pretty much made barely enough to get my cabinents. Hopefully we'll be going to get them tomorrow after swim class. They will be unfinished (arg) so it's not like they will be able to come STRAIGHT into the house...have to stain, and attach the counter top. The goal is to have them done by Thursday this week before my Mom gets here for her visit! (and before I lose my sanity in my 3 square inch kitchen).

OOOOOOH!!! ALSO!! I saw online that Michaels (a craft store) was having some kind of "Free Wilton Fondant Demo" at our store this past saturday, and I was determined to go, even thought we had all that other stuff going on on Sat. I had no idea what to expect, it could be cool or totally lame. But, I needed more info about the Wilton classes I want to take, so I figured I'd get at least that. The girl had a small table set up by the door and was just cutting out circles and stars out of small pieces of fondant and putting them on cupcakes. I mean, my cat could do that. But she said, she had to do what Wilton told her to do. No one else really stopped by, so I asked her if I could ask her some questions. I walked out of there with TONS of advice and tips and a crash course in fondant to hopefully solve some of the issues I've been having with it. YAAAAYYYY!! I am really pumped for my class next month. She will be teaching it and she seemed to appreciate that I was really into it and cared about being good at it. :)

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Here are some mini cupcakes I made for a birthday last night. I used the afore-mentioned Buttercream I made shortly before for the icing. The marshmallow flowers are from "What's New, Cupcake?". I have been wanting to make these and I was graciously given the freedom to do whateverI want! (I love it when that happens!)

These turned out soooooo pretty, if I do say so myself. Actually, these are the first things I've ever made that I thought, I wish I was recieving these!! Boo!!!

Sigh. So Pretty.

Very Important Instructions!

Okay people.

Consider this my last will and testiment.

If I die, I want to be buried in Buttercream Icing.*

To ensure that happens, here is detailed instructions on how to make it.

• Step 1: Whip one pound of softened unsalted butter in mixer on high speed until it begs for mercy.

• Step 2: add 4 pounds of powdered sugar. Mix slowly at first or you will develop PSEA .(Powdered Sugar Enduced Asthma). Don't worry, it's not fatal.
  Don't forget to add some milk and vanilla, also.

• Step 3: Turn mixer on high and crank up some baby-makin' music.

(go ahead, get your nose in there. It's ok.)

(that's scraped off enough for licking, isn't it?)

• Step 4: Bury sed blogger. Thank You In Advance.

*If for some reason there is a world-wide shortage of any of the above ingredients, proceed immediately to Chuy's and purchase a gallon of Creamy Tomatillo sauce that they use on the Deluxe Chicken Enchiladas. That will be an acceptable substitution.

How we deal...

So, you may be wondering, how does one deal with the fact that they were supposed to be having a garage sale this past weekend but had to postpone because they were not ready? Well, I'll tell you.

They get out of dodge!

This weekend, we took a short day trip a couple hours from here to visit a really cool aquarium. Since we are not going to be able to take a "Family Vacation" this summer, we really wanted to get away and do something, anything. You know?

The boys had a complete blast. #1 was really jazzed at times but anytime there was really big animals or touch tanks, he respectfully kept his distance. #2, on the other hand, Mr. No Fear, it was all we could do to keep him in his stroller and not jumping in the tanks. So funny how different their personalities are!

I love this pic of Husband pointing out things to the boys.

There was a really cool butterfly garden in one of the buildings. I really like butterflies, buuuuut.....if one of them lands on me, well, that's a different story. Because they are still bugs and they feel like a bug on your skin. (Sorry.) Apparently one of them really liked my white shirt, and kept trying to hitch a ride out. I didn't know this one was on me until some guy came up to me and said..."Gimme your camera. Stand still. Stand still." (uuuuuhhhh.) Then he said there was one on my back. It's a good thing I didn't feel it. I actually didn't freak out, aren't you proud of me??? I am!!!

They really are pretty....



Typical #2.

Also? I got a new case for my other half ::cough:: iPhone. She's a beast and pretty much unbreakable and waterproof (all things I need) and was not cheap, and I had to go to like 5 stores to find one, because NONE OF THE FREAKING EMPLOYEES IN ANY OF THE STORES WOULD HELP ME FIND ANY, AT&T!!!

but anyway, I finally have it and I am sooooo happy.

I also love it because it matches my armband thingy for my ipod I use when I run, which looks like this...yes, it matters!! And I just love black and pink together.

So, now, fun's over. I will be spending every night in the sweatshop known as my garage. And hopefully next week I will have some more kitchen cabinets.

Nap much?

Well, we decided to postpone our garage sale to next weekend. Because who are we kidding, we are SOOOO not ready. And also, I have gotten several really bad sinus headaches this week, I'm not sure why, maybe is the storms we have had rolling through here. So I haven't gotten that much done. This morning I had a doozy. Normally, afternoons while #2 naps are spent with me trying to get things done around the house and trying to keep The One With The Short Attention Span entertained. So, this afternoon, I was going to attempt my twice-a-year afternoon nap, which also means having to persuade #1 to nap also. Husband promised some big "surprise" to him as we was leaving for work, so as soon as naptime arrived, #1 jumped into our bed and was ready for it. (Why doesn't that EVER work when I do that???) #1 has to nap in my bed with me since the boys are sharing a room now and there's no way I'm letting him interfere with #2's nap!

Here is the breakdown of how the afternoon went:

• 1pm:...........#2 in bed................#1 in bed..............Me-taking care of a few quick things.

• 1:30pm: #2 not asleep.........#1 asleep..............Me-in bed. Listening to yammering on monitor.

• 2pm: #2 not asleep..........#1 asleep.............Me-waiting for #2 to fall asleep so I can.

• 2:30pm: #2 not asleep..........#1 asleep.............Me-annoyed I can't sleep with the rain.

• 3pm: #2 NOT ASLEEP ......#1 asleep............Me-you can guess. still storming.

• 3:30pm: #2 ALSEEP!! ..........#1 asleep............Me-finally relaxing.

• 3:38pm #2 sleeping...............#1 waking up.....Me-you can guess.

Exact amount of sleep I got: 8 minutes. Headache: Better, but still there. Claritin and Advil finally kicked in I guess. And It's raining again.

Also? this is an exact repeat of what happened when we tried this a month ago.

Hey Guess What??

MY KID SWAM TODAY! MY KID SWAM TODAY!

:shouts from rooftops:

A little peer pressure will go a long way with a 4 yr old, I guess! We were at our pool today with some new friends, and among them is another 4 year old boy. One who does NOT have the pool issues that mine does. So there he is, being quite the fishie, and there's #1, being not the fishie using his inflatable ring and other various non-life-saving devices. Not that I'm complaining about that, because one short month ago, he wouldn't go near the pool.

So there I am, gabbing with the other moms, and all of the sudden I feel something tugging at my bathing suit top. And since Husband is at work, it can't be him. I look down, and there is my kid, face down in the water, flailing around his little arms and legs trying to pull himself up. I thought at first he fell in (off the steps he was playing on and I was standing next to) and had gotten over to me (in which case, yay for that!) And then I grab him and pull him up. I was in SHOCK!! I was all, what the heck are you doing?!? I asked him if he fell in or did he swim over to me? And he replied, sputtering, he swam over to me! And He put his "whole self" in the water! I tell you, it was a proud moment. I almost started crying!

So of course, I tried to get him to do it again, which he would have no part of. But eventually he did, a few more short distances. One time he forgot to move his arms so he just kind of stayed in one spot. I kept asking him what made him decide to do the whole swim on his own thing, and never got a straight answer. You know how 4 yr olds are. But then when we got home, I asked him again. And he stated, very plainly,

"W told me to. He showed me how and told me to do it and I did."

Well, there you go!

YAY FOR PEER PRESSURE!!!

ps, I'm sorry if this is all skwunched up, I don't know why my spaces inbetween paragraphs aren't posting. ugh. I'm still a bloggie newbie.

What did you eat this weekend??

Hungry yet???

This weekend I dusted off the old baking case, and got to work. Thanks to a new mommy friend of mine, who sends me pictures of things I should be making (ha ha!) I figured it was time to get cracking. And, I do have a new cupcake book, the sequel to "Hello, Cupcake!" called "What's New, Cupcake?" that I've had for like, 2 months, and not made anything out of. Seriously!

So, instead of doing ALL the cupcakes in ONE theme, and with there being so many in the book that are "picnic-y" themed, I thought I'd just do a few of each and do a whole spread! I even found this checked tablecloth, which honestly I can't believe I didn't have already! These pies are made with M&M's , but I also saw somewhere else similar cupcakes that had Actual fruit in them, so I thought I'd try that too. I probably should have glazed the blueberries or something, but I was kind of pressed for time because it was so hot in my kitchen I was like frost/decorate/fridge repeat! My frosting was getting all melty. Then it gets REALLY hard to work with.

It felt really good to get the old creative juices flowing again. Here's the whole spread!
Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. We spend most of the time outside. #1 and I ran in a locak 5k, which I rocked, thank you very much, and it felt great, #1 ran in his SECOND kid's race, ran some errands, had a pizza picnic, checked out a local fair, swam at the pool, and of course, worked on garage sale stuff. (well, almost all play no work!) We came to the decision today that we have A LOT of stuff for our sale...I really hope we can clear enough for my cabinents! Here's a pic of #2 rockin his new trunks and looking so cute I could gobble him up.

So much for free school...

Well, we didn't get into the County School System for pre-K. I was completely shocked to get the letter in the mail yesterday...I thought we wouldn't find out for another month anyway. But glad to get it early enough to not lose a spot in the other school. So off we went to sign #1 up for a twice a week program at a little school close to our neighborhood. He starts in about a month. I am excited and so is he. I'm sure I'll be sad when the day gets here, but this 2 day a week thing is good because it will ease both of us into him going everyday next year. And, I get to buy one of those cute "nap mat" things we saw at Walmart last year. And I get to dust off the sewing maching to sew a cover for it. Not that he will be napping on it, mind you.

Otherwise, we've had a pretty busy week. Swim lessons every day, extra swimming at our pool (where #1 was quite the fishie, to my delight), taking the boys to a $1 movie at the theater. They both sat through it pretty well. I wasn't sure how #2 would do with a movie that's not Toy Story. We didn't get there until right as it was starting so we only got 2 seats, so #2 sat in my lap and I got an hour and a half of rare snuggle time with him. It was nice.

Well, I have been inspired to get my badonkadonk off the couch and start baking some stuff again. Maybe I was just in need of an occasion. I have so many cute cupcake designs from various books that are "fourth-of-July-y" to make, so instead of making them all in one design, I'm gonna do a handful of each and make a little spread of cupcakes that look like other food. I even found a cute tablecloth to put them on. Who needs protein, right??

Otherwise, I'm not really sure how we'll spend this weekend. The husband has an extra day off, so I'm sure there will be some grilling and pooling at some point. I couldn't resist a pair of flag print swim trunks for my boys the other day :) Tomorrow we are going into another city just north of here for me and #1 to run in a Fourth of July race. I love doing races, they give me a reason to run (yes, I need a reason), and they always support good causes. It's a really good variety of people that come out for all different reasons. And you usually get a ton of free stuff, especially at the bigger more well sponsored races. The only thing that irks me is when I'm in the porta-potty line before the race and some 7ft 150lb guy walks infront of me, looking all marathon-y, and I feel like he's walking in front of me all like, yeah, I'm gonna SMOKE you. But, its pretty awesome when you are coming to the finish line all huffing and puffing and there's a bunch of people who don't even know you yelling and clapping for you and telling you "Good Job! You can do it!". I wish I could bottle them up and have them follow me everywhere.

Here's a preview...I made these a couple years ago to take to a Halloween party. Cupcakes dressed up as corn...get it? These are from "Hello, Cupcake!". But I made them before I had the book because I saw the author doing them on Martha Stewart!