'FRO ME TO YOU - I'M NOT A BAKER

Cakes is turning two this week. So, this past weekend, we had her birthday party. She was very specific about they type of cake that she wanted. Which was Dora the Explorer. I began researching the internet, searching for a good Dora the Explorer cake recipe that didn't look too difficult. Because I am not a baker. Not even slightly.

I finally ran across what appeared to be the perfect instructional for a Dora the Explorer cake on the Nick Jr. website. This was going to be the cake I baked for my little Cakes (photo courtesy of the http://www.nickjr.com/):



Unfortunately, this was the cake that I actually baked:



Yes, it was a little creepy. The eyes were a little buggy. The skin was a little ... um ... textured. The nose ... well, there's not a whole lot I can say about the nose. I didn't even bother putting the cowlick in her hair, because it was eerily similar in appearance to a piece of poo. Storebought cake next year? I think so! At least it wasn't as bad as this.

Happy birthday, Cakes!

For more fun memories, check out We Are THAT Family.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - HALLMARK KISSING BEARS' DRYER ADVENTURE

I know this is supposed to be Wordless, but I just need to give a little preface. Have you seen those Hallmark kissing bears? They have magnets in their noses that make them "kiss." The girls love playing with ours, and they were getting pretty gross, so I washed them. And put them in the dryer.

Go here for more Wordless Wednesday.

WHERE DO THEY COME UP WITH THIS STUFF?

Bean was drinking her juice in the car today as we drove home from the bank. She must have gotten some "down the wrong pipe," because she coughed and sputtered a little bit. I gave my usual response: "You choking a little bit, Bean?"

Bean replied, "I'll be okay, Steve."

"Who's Steve?" I queried.

"I called you Steve," Bean responded.

I chuckled a little bit and said, "I'm not Steve; I'm Mom."

Bean didn't miss a beat. She said, matter-of-factly, "Well, you look like Steve to me!"

CHERUBS SING POPULAR

I finally found the charger for my video camera. So, as promised, I dutifully set my girls in front of the camera to record them singing "Popular." It didn't come out quite as planned. There was nose picking throughout the recording. There were also many attempts on my part to convince a skeptical Bean that the camera was, in fact, recording her song. Finally, in exasperation, I turned the viewfinder so that the girls could see that I was telling the truth about the camera recording them. And, well, that was the end of the concert.

KID PICS - NOT SO CREATIVE

It's Kid Pics Carnival time! Go here to find out how to participate!

The whole point of the Kid Pics Carnival is to showcase the creativity of children when a camera is put into their hands. Kids, even toddlers like mine, are able to come up with some suprisingly well-framed and beautiful photos. Unfortunately, this week my kids were not feeling very creative. Behold ...


Hopefully, your kids were more creative this week.

WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?

Bean has always been pretty independent and self-sufficient. She's great at amusing herself. But lately, Bean has been wandering the house, singing (to the tune of "Are You Sleeping"), "This is boring, this is boring ..."

My wonderful mother witnessed this, and appeared one day bearing The Toddler's Busy Book. It's fantastic! A lot of the ideas are so simple that I wonder why I didn't come up with them myself. One of them doesn't require any intervention from me and keeps the girls happy and busy for hours. I just fill up a tub with water and stick it on the deck with a bunch of Tupperware.

The first day that I tried this, the girls had a blast! That is, until one dumped water on another one's head and hysteria burst forth. But, I had a good hour and half before that happened.

It worked so well that I set up two tubs of water today so that they wouldn't argue over the water. When I went to check on them, they had both stripped down to their birthday suits and were sitting in the tubs. Why isn't bath time this easy?

Don't forget, tomorrow is the weekly Kid Pics Carnival! Give your kids a camera and watch the creative juices flow!

DRUMMER'S EYE VIEW

Big Daddy is a drummer (a wonderful combination of 18-inch biceps and ADHD). Before we became business owners, he had more time to devote to it. But, he still plays whenever he gets the chance. He recently played at a concert to benefit teenage mothers. He was able to snap some shots from behind his drum kit with his camera phone.

That lost shot is of the stage's soundboard.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - DOGS AND KIDS BELONG TOGETHER

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TOM

There are a lot of family cemeteries around here. It seems a lot more common here than up North. There is even a little plot right next to the exit ramp of one of our major interstate highways. There's also one right in the middle of a cow pasture near our local grocery store. And, there are tons of tiny little family plots on many of the back-road farms around here. It's so common, in fact, that a lot of the back roads are named for their cemeteries (e.g. Smith Cemetery Road, Jones Cemetery Road, Joe Bag-o-donuts Cemetery Road).

On one of the many Cemetery Roads there lives a humongous tom turkey. We're still trying to determine if he is a pet, or if he has just been lucky during hunting season (quick fact that is completely unrelated to the story - turkeys roost in trees; I don't know, they seem a little bulky for that ...). But, there have been many times that we've seen him strutting his stuff down the road, followed by a harem of turkey hens and, inexplicably, guinea fowl.

One time, the cherubs were (as usual) screaming in their car seats when we came upon the tom. We stopped to give the cherubs a closer look. I rolled down my window and did my best turkey call. To my surprise, the brazen bird gobbled back and started heading toward the car! I nervously continued gobbling, hoping that the bird would not fly at me in a pecking rage (do turkeys do that?), while Big Daddy snapped pictures with his camera phone.



The cherubs were appropriately impressed by the turkey, and we spent the rest of our drive being regaled with high-pitched gobbles from the back seat. I guess that's better than screaming ...

OUR LITTLE COSMETOLOGIST

So, Grammy almost immediately regretted allowing Bean and Cakes to play with her electric toothbrush. The greater part of two days was spent with Grammy's toothbrush in one of the cherubs' mouths. The end result was a new toothbrush head for Grammy, and an electric toothbrush for each of the cherubs.

Not only do they find great joy in brushing their teeth, they have also come up with creative new uses for their toothbrushes. For instance, Bean enjoys cleaning windows with hers. She also enjoys brushing the dogs' hair, teeth, and anything else the dogs will tolerate (please note all toothbrushes are thoroughly disinfected on a regular basis).

Cakes prefers to use her toothbrush for more artistic endeavors. Look at the concentration on her face as she makes sure every detail is perfect.

Grammy sits patiently for her little hairdresser, breathing a sigh of relief that it is not her toothbrush that is being used as a styling product.

WHO DO YOU EVEN CALL?

So, we woke up this morning to see this in the remnants of our garden.


It later ambled over to our field lines and ate some of the green grass there. Then, it lay down in the middle of the field and chilled out for a while. Not knowing who I should call to come get a horse out of my back yard, I (of course) got my camera so I could take pictures for my blog.

Neighbor Sandy, who has five horses of her own and, therefore, has the tack needed to capture an escaped equine, eventually came out and led it away.

KID PICS CARNIVAL TIME!

Okay, so I'm a little late getting the Kid Pics Carnival up today. It's been one of those weeks. But, better late than never! Find out how to participate here

Bean continued her love affair with Grampy and Grammy's dogs. The fuzzy black blob is some part of Clark. Bean also got some great action shots of Grammy playing tug-o-war with Buckleberry Ferry.

Cakes preferred to perch on the bed and take pictures of electronic equipment. And her leg.

Now, it's time to see the creative shots your kids have come up with this week!

POPULAR

This is the YouTube video that I have been fortunate enough to watch with my cherubs about 5,000 times a day.



The girls absolutely love this song, and spend a great deal of time acting out Kristen Chenoweth's role (and fighting about who gets to act out Kristen Chenoweth's role), and singing the song at the tops of their lungs. Once I find the battery charger for my video camera, I'll record them singing it and post it here on the blog. It's hilarious!

But, I digress. Today, Bean was outside helping Grampy wash his car. So, Cakes and I were sitting in the kitchen watching "Popular" on YouTube once again, and Cakes was really getting into the song. She was singing loudly and swaying with the music. Then, I had one of those moments that send my heart into palpitations. Cadence swayed a little too enthusiastically. I watched in slow motion as she leaned farther and farther back, and finally tumbled backwards off the stool, landing square on her head. Not having been blessed with very good reflexes, she was already on the floor by the time I reached her from my perch two feet away.

I scooped up my screaming baby and held her, rubbing her head and asking if it was scary and if she got hurt. Through her screams, I clearly heard her say, "I ... want ... to ... watch ... Popular!" Apparently, she had recovered.

TASTY!

Hmmm. What is Cakes doing over near the dog bowl?

Let me get a better angle ...

Oh, I see. She's eating the dog food.

Well, being the good mom that I am, why don't I just take a few pictures for my blog before I intervene?

DRAGONFLY, DRAGONFLY

I'm a big fan of trivia. I love having a wealth of useless information to share at get-togethers. Which is why I'm a big fan of Uncle John's Bathroom Readers. Have you ever heard of them? Right now, I'm reading Uncle John's Curiously Compelling Bathroom Reader. That's where I found out that Paul McCartney wrote "When I'm 64" when he was 15 years old. That's also where I found out that the average life span of a dragonfly is 24 hours. I find that amazing, considering how enormous they are. Which brings me to the point of this post.

Big Daddy was heading out to pick up Aunt Tracy and Uncle Matt for Sunday dinner with us. On his way to the truck, he found an enormous, dead dragonfly, completely intact. After sneaking up behind me and nearly giving me a coronary by placing said enormous dragonfly on my shoulder, he took it to the girls to show them.

Bean was immediately impressed. I tried not to act squeamish as she paraded around the house, holding it by the tail. She held it out to all the dogs, so they could get a good sniff, and then she passed the fascinating carcass on to Cakes. Who, to my horror, proceeded to gleefully dismember said enormous dragonfly in the middle of the living room.

KID PICS - THEMED PICS

Kid Pics Carnival time! Upload all those great pics your kids took using your camera phone, and your (or their) cameras. Let's see artistry from a kid's point of view! Find out how to be a part of the Kid Pics Carnival here.

My girls seemed to have a theme going this week with their photography. Cakes has taken too many floor shots to count. Here are some examples of her handiwork (including a great shot of Bean taken from the breakfast bar):

Bean has opted to focus on Grampy and Grammy's three dogs. Here they are, in all their glory (a special thanks to some very patient dogs):

BRAT AND BRAC

One of the most wonderful ailments of all has descended upon the household. Bean has diarrhea. So, she's back in diapers, because we're never sure when the monster is going to strike. Like yesterday. When it struck. On Grampy's t-shirt. Or again yesterday. When it struck. On the kitchen floor. Twice. I'll spare you the visual.

The pediatrician said we should start her on the BRAT and BRAC diets. All well and good, unless you have a 3-year-old like mine who pretty much lives on Goldfish, the occasional pasta noodle, and thin air. Is there a GRAC diet? Or maybe a G-PAC? That would work. Minus the applesauce, of course. Applesauce? The horror! Bananas are iffy, but tolerable.

The good news is, the cherub can't get enough cheese.

On another note, don't forget the Kid Pics Carnival tomorrow! I'll have Mr. Linky up later tonight. I look forward to seeing all the kids' creativity and artistry!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - DOGGY KISSES

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BIG DADDY: DEER HUNTER EXTRAORDINAIRE

Big Daddy is a suburbanite. He married into a family that is half suburban, and half rural. The rural side is involved in farming, hunting, fishing, all that nature stuff. They live off the land, butchering their own meat, growing their own veggies, etc. And every time a grandkid turns 12, they have the option of getting their own rifle for Christmas so they can begin hunting (I opted for a nice set of PJ's for Christmas when I turned 12). Hunting is a tradition on that side of the family, and each hunting season provides meat for the families for at least a year. I remember one Thanksgiving when the menu included wild turkey, wild goose, venison, and bear. But, I digress ...

Big Daddy has always been somewhat enamored with the simple life of farming, hunting, and such. So, shortly after we were married, Big Daddy decided that he wanted to try his hand at hunting with Grampy.

Grampy accompanied Big Daddy to all the hunter safety courses, and helped Big Daddy apply for his license. Then, Big Daddy and Grampy headed out into the woods on Irwin the Great's property for the first day of Deer Season. They had their buck licenses which, of course, meant that all they saw that day were doe. They were a little disappointed to finish the day empty-handed, but they had a great time of male bonding (involving complete silence, freezing temperatures, a tree stand, and bucket that acted as a restroom - not my idea of a good time, but hey).

So, the next morning, Grampy and Big Daddy packed up the car, and began the four-hour ride home. They had gone about ten miles when they saw a deer run across the road and get hit in the head by an oncoming tractor trailer. Well, the first words out of Grampy's mouth were, "It got hit in the head! The meat's still good!"

They quickly turned the car around, drove up to the deer, tagged its antler with the hunting tag (have to keep it legal, you know), and tossed the fresh carcass into the back of Big Daddy's Bronco. They raced back to Irwin the Great's farm, where they ... um ... processed the deer (I'll spare you the gorey details). Irwin the Great butchered and packaged the venison, and Big Daddy brought home his first (road)kill. Which I didn't eat. Venison ... ew.

KID PICS

And it is time for our second Kid Pics Carnival! *fanfare playing* Go here to learn how to participate. And thanks to last week's contributors. Let's keep those kids' creative juices flowing. Here are the products of my toddlers' Fisher Price camera this week. We'll begin with Cakes, who took some lovely photos of the view through our storm door (that wheelbarrow is where we set off fireworks on July 4; we'll get around to putting that away ...), and also a pic of the toys that she and her sister picked up in the evening before bed.

Bean captured Cakes trying to climb onto the sofa from behind (that large, furry thing is the tail of a deer pelt, which was hunted and eaten by my warrior cousin, Timmy, and then donated to my husband, whose one and only hunting excursion resulted in bringing home some fresh deer roadkill - remind me to tell you that story), and also got a great action shot of Grampy, who is very excited to be spending time with his grandbabies.

BACK TO THE BEGINNING

When I first started blogging, I was trying to wean my youngest child. Here's the scenario:

Bean refused to nurse. Having never had a baby before, much less tried to breastfeed one, I had one very frustrating week full of breast pumps and lanolin. Finally, I gave up and gave her expressed breast milk until my supply was gone (about six months).

So, when Cakes came along, I was determined to nurse her exclusively for a year. And I did. And then it was 18 months. Now, she will be two in less than a month. And she still won't stop nursing.

And so, after discussing with my pediatrician, I've decided that we need to just go cold turkey. I mean, when your kid can walk up to you, request "booby," and then specify, "Okay, that booby now," it's time to freaking wean. Don't you agree?

Yes, it will be agonizing for my child. And agonizing for me. Has anyone seen Pioneer Woman's posts of their poor cows' engorged teats? Yeah, it's not going to be fun. Couple that with the fact that Cakes has that wonderful habit of screaming until she projectile vomits. Yeah. Yeah.

Here we go!