Look What Happens when I skip a few Posts......

My kids, the former babies, went ahead and turned FOUR.

Although I am a little beside myself that I am the mother of two kids rather than two toddlers (I mean, lets be real, I am still bewildered that I am a mother at all), I am more phased by the fact that older kids = older mom.  Sometimes I look at my face in the mirror, see my smile lines and forehead creases, and I just cannot help but think, HOW CAN I BE THIS OLD?????

But, for the past week, I have calmed myself by reminding myself at least it is not *my* birthday.  My birthday is still 5 months away.  It's bitter-sweet because even though I hate turning a year older, I absolutely love my birthday.  So, after I feel relieved it's not my birthday, I feel disappointed.

It's complicated.

This is the first year the kids were aware it was their birthday.  They have been to a few birthday parties and noted that birthdays meant cake and presents.  For the past four months, Hayden has started his morning by asking, "Is it my Birthday?  Is it my Birthday?"

After the 115th time, it became annoying.  So, I was thrilled when I could finally answer, "Yes.  YES.  YES!!!!!!

We threw them a party at a little gym.  They ate pizza.  They got presents.  They had cake.  We picked out the cake together; the pink sand was Brenna's idea.

It was pretty good cake, as long as you like things that taste like sugar.

I learned two things from this whole birthday-party throwing experience:
1) Birthday parties are expensive.
2) Birthday parties are exhausting.

When we got home, my husband plopped on the couch and I went into the kitchen with the bakery box of leftover cake.  I placed most of the cake in a Tupperware container and placed it in the freezer.  Leftover freezer cake is the best kind of cake.  Then I noticed there was a lot of cake residue stuck to the bottom of the box.  And tons of icing abandoned on the side.

I scraped my finger/hand along the bottom of the box and sides of the box to acquire an impressive, although unattractive, mountain of cake mush.  Cake mush is the second best of cake, especially since no one else will eat it - so forks be damned and hands be shovels!  Usually, when shovel cake mush into my mouth, it's in the privacy of my kitchen at 5am.  But in my fatigued state, I forgot it was the middle of the day.  I looked up to see my husband staring at me, eyes wide and jaw agape.

I guess I am lucky it took him this long to see me in such an act.  And, I will  not lie, I have visited the freezer cake every day since the birthday party.

My ignominious interaction with cake mush was not my intention for writing today - but between this and the tangent about my age, my writing time has encountered lunch time.

And NO, I am not going to eat cake for lunch.


I already did that before my morning swim.

Park, Milk, Knock, Dark and Cake

The kids have finished their first year of preschool.  I think they liked it - I know I certainly like dropping them off.

The year ended with a formal graduation ceremony.  There was a fancy program listing the ceremony events using a cursive font.  I was very impressed - we didn't even distribute programs at our wedding!  (I like to keep people guessing, why spoil what will happen next?)

First, they did awards.  Hayden got the award for the Kindest Heart.  He does have a very big heart.

Brenna got the award for the Pinkest Princess.  She does wear a lot of pink.

If I knew about this beforehand, I would have dressed her to fit the role.  There are not enough opportunities for Brenna to wear her collection of princess dresses appropriately.  Plus, almost everyone else dressed up.  The other moms wore makeup!  Instead, Brenna and I had on our matching shorts that we bought a few months ago.

After the awards, we had delicious and delectable cupcakes sprinkled with gold flakes.  Even the cupcakes at our wedding did not have gold flakes! Not that there should be any doubt, Brenna had a pink cupcake. (And so did I).

Hayden did not have a pink cupcake nor did he care.  I don't think he even noticed that there was frosting , nonetheless gold.

But the real highlight came six hours later when I took Brenna to speech therapy.  Brenna has been working hard on her speech.  It was decided that she did not have Apraxia, but instead Dysarthria.  So we have been doing things to strengthen her face muscles, like blowing horns and blowing bubbles.  The part we struggle with most is the last syllable of any word - Brenna likes to keep people guessing, too.

But, as if she understood she just surpassed a milestone in her short little life, Brenna stood for the occasion by conquering a new sound.  A sound that we have been working on for many weeks:
the very important "CK!"

You can't say "cake" without it.

The Belated Birthday Post

I believe that it is important to consume copious amounts of cake on your birthday. 
Preferably awesome cake, like those in the shape of inanimate objects or multi-tier custom designed cakes.

But can a novice palette of a three-year old distinguish and appreciate awesome cake? 
The answer, displayed in delight over subpar breakfast “cupcakes”, decided NO - a three-year old has no clue about the quality of cake.  


It reminds me of a horrific moment that happened many months ago at Walmart.  I was at the register feeling frustrated and flustered (my typical response to Walmart) when I glanced down to see Hayden on the dirty ground.  I started to ask, “What are you doing?” but before I could finish the question, I gasped in horror as I noticed he was LICKING THE WHEEL OF THE SHOPPING CART.  


Could there be anything worse in the world to lick?  As those behind me deemed me as the worst mother in Walmart, I determined that his taste buds must be under-developed because he had this ridiculous grin on his face suggesting that he enjoyed it.

Now, their breakfast “cupcakes” were far superior to a Walmart shopping cart wheel.  They were made out of oatmeal, pumpkin, whole wheat pastry flour, cinnamon, vanilla and blue berry syrup.  The “frosting” was an amalgamation of cauliflower puree, whipped cream cheese and honey greek yogurt.  It was garnished with a dried-fruit birthday candle.

Please note that I never said they were pretty.

I get that it sounds gross (or interesting?) but my kids were clueless.  They ate their cake in the jogging stroller because naturally, we celebrated with a run.

 See? They like it!

Nothing says a perfect birthday like cake for breakfast and a beautiful morning run.

When we got home, they requested demanded more cake.  Since each cupcake was a serving of vegetables, I obliged.

Before you feel too sorry for the kids being stuck with a cake made of vegetables, let me assure that you they did get real cupcakes, too.  I didn't even eat any of their butter-cream frosting beforehand.

And they also had stash of presents - including books, shoes and of course, a yellow car.