Queen of Cheesy-ness and Potatoes...

 ...Did you read my Pumpkin Carving Blog?
Stop! Go Back! Read it!  There's cute photos on there of the kids!

I have LOTS to write about the past 3 days and  3 recipes to share. This post contains 2 photos and 1 recipe..you have been warned...it's word heavy.


And so it begins:
Halloween weekend consisted of 5 parties for The Gaylord Family...who, unlike last year's Toy Story Halloween-..Did NOT have a "family theme". sigh.

So, this year:
Grant:  "Transformer- Bumble Bee"
Gwen:  Talked into recycling Grant's old "Elmo" costume


But....I did manage to talk/beg/force Brent to dress up with me

HE.LOVES.ME

And, initially, I thought it was a damn clever idea if I do say so myself...seeing as he heart surgery this past June...

..I informed him about 2-3 weeks ago that He was to be "The King of Hearts" and carry his cardiac heart pillow along with him while I donned "The Queen of Hearts" from Alice in Wonderland.
Cute/Clever, right?

Of COURSE anywhere I looked the Queen of Hearts from Alice was $$$$....but ebay DID however have a "queen of hearts" costume...a steal at $4.00 + $4.00 shipping..right?....

....but THIS Queen of hearts costume was the one from the Queen of Hearts from the card deck...

I decided immediately after hitting I hit "purchase, pay and thereby COMMIT"  to wearing this cheesy outfit that perhaps this was not the correct choice in costume...

On top of my dorky costume, Brent FORGETS to bring his cardiac pillow at the Friday night party and I have to continually explain to everyone our "theme".

At this point, I'm questioning the "cuteness/cleverness" of my theme for this year.

Brent was working late (shocker, I know), and the kids and I had to get ready for Tasha's party after Grant's swimming lesson.

We were the only ones dressed up at swimming and I was feeling very....
...... DUMB with my " $8.00 Ebay-I-should-have-spent-$-on-the-Alice-in-Wonderland-Dress" costume.

As I came out of the bathroom with the kids, I noticed a few "glances and stares" from some of the parents who, undoubtedly thought I was somewhere between lame and insane...

...I see Ms. Swim Coach and I explain to her (in an intentionally rather loud voice so as to explain to the other parents in the room:

 "My husband is the King of Hearts because he had heart surgery and I'm the Queen of hearts...but he's not here because he's working late...."

Side note: (was it the tiarra?, the heart crown?...or perhaps the shiny plastic skirt that was about 4 sizes too big for me?)

Well, I lied, kind of. We weren't the ONLY ones dressed up. Our friends Courtney and Bobby's little boy Aiden, was wearing Grant's Buzzlightyear costume from last year.... and he and Gwen (who is "serving" food from the kitchen play set at swimming) struck a pose.

Side Note: Aiden's Birthday was this weekend and was party #4 that we would be attending..and although Gwen is looking very shy in this photo, she smacked him with a big, fat, birthday kiss on Sunday.

I know, you are all wondering where Brent is in the photo.....I have one from the NEXT party (blog to come!) with he and Gwen but somehow I didn't get a photo us on Friday night.

Perhaps it was because I was mad he deserted me at swimming lessons... and then FORGOT the pillow? I don't know...I'm just sayin....




Now, a break in the "Cheesy-Mom-Costume" story for a Cheesy Recipe...that has a story.

Two out of the 5 parties requested that I make my "Cheesy Potatoes"--and to double the batch!  Although I was hoping to get my "creative bug" out a bit and make something unique and different (I have been pinning a TON of Halloween recipes that I've wanted to make,) these potatoes are super easy and really good..AND they can be made a head of time.
BEST.OF.ALL.

The history of these potatoes dates WAY WAY back in my family. We make them for holidays, birthdays, graduations, baptisms,confirmations...etc...etc...but only for "occasions"..not "just for dinner".  But if you've ever been to any event that involved my family...you've had these.


Recipe for My Family's-We-Have-It-At-EVERY-family-Occasion-Cheesy Potatoes

1  2 pound back frozen hash brown potatoes
       (the chunks, not the shredded, and don't get the ones with the peppers, just the PLAIN potatoes)
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
      (if you are gluten intolerant, here's a recipe to replace the canned cream of chicken)
   
And this brings me to a Side Note Regarding my family's recipes:  I DO NOT, under any circumstances, alter my family's staple family recipes,..this being one of them...(another one is my grandmother's meatballs)..I don't try to make them healthier, I don't "doctor" them up...these are what I grew up with and when I make these recipes, I want to remember being 10 years old going to my grandmothers house and smelling the aromas of her meatballs simmering in her sauce, or tasting the cheesiness of the potatoes EXACTLY how they should be...so.....use the condensed soup if you aren't gluten intolerant...

1 pint sour cream
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
1 stick melted BUTTER- not margarine, or "I'm a wimp and I can't Believe it's not Butter",
REAL BUTTER IS BETTER

mix it all together and layer into 9 x 13 pan (I spray mine with Pam Olive Oil spray)

Topping:
1 stick melted BUTTER mixed into 1 cup Kellogg's Cornflake Crumbs (they sell this people, don't spend your time crushing the cereal)

Bake 375 for 1 hour.  If you double the recipe as I did, PLEASE double the time...4 pounds of frozen potatoes takes a while to cook.

Now, I have to say, these were a serious hit at BOTH of the parties that I made them for this weekend. I overheard and was directly told how awesome they were.

Soooo...to pat myself on the back a bit, I guess I am very successful as being the Queen of Cheesy-ness..and potatoes.

Pumpkin carving "Fun"

I started writing our Halloween blog, but then realized I didn't publish what happened AFTER what has come to be known as "The Pizza Incident".

We carved pumpkins.
Always a good time...sort of.

Here's how it went:  After we enjoyed the pizza and I explained "The Pizza Incident" to Brent when he came home from work...we pulled out a tarp on the sunroom floor to prepare our pumpkins for their magnificant transformation into jack-o-lanterns.

The problem is, not only do the kids  not carve the pumpkins (obviously), but BOTH of my kids get grossed out by, what  they call, "the goo-ey goo" (aka the inside of the pumpkin). So, after about 5 minutes into our carving and 5 trips to the bathroom to wash Gwen's hands because she's crying because they are "dirty with the "goo-ey goo")..... we end up doing ALL of the work.
Here's a couple of pictures during the initial process---like the first 2 minutes

And Brent is a perfectionist when it comes to having a completely"guts-free" pumpkin.  He cuts, scrapes, pulls out and fine tunes the pumpkin until the thing is BEYOND hollow.

While he's fine tuning the gut-less pumpkins,  I tell the kids to decide if they want a happy or scary pumpkin.
Gwen says she wants a "happy guy".
GREAT.EASY.DONE.

Grant, however, picks out the haunted house (which Gwen proceeds to call "her castle") stencil that comes with the pumpkin carving tools
TOTALLY.NOT.CARVING.

Me, knowing that I'm going to be the one carving the damn thing, tells Grant: "This is kind of hard for mommy...why don't you choose this scary one...he's COOL"

Grant: Whines.Cries. Over-reacts   "Nooooooo....I want the Haunted House"
Gwen: "Yeah, Grant wants myyyyy castle on his pumpkin-guy"

Inner monologue: Sigh. How hard could it be? My hand is only 1/2 burnt and sore from The Pizza Incident...
So I begin tracing with the "tool" the kit provides...
..and I carve...and carve...and carve....

Grant to Brent: "Mommy isn't good at carving pumpkins..she takes a long, long time"
Brent laughs
I glare...and continue carving....

..Now, Jackie begins carving my pumpkin (she only admidittly likes pumpkin carving to harvest the seeds and make yummy pumpkin-roasted goodness at the end of the night)..but she sees that since I'm carving two pumpkins, she'll help out with the one I bought for "my pumpkin".

Brent had gotten a migraine during this process and decided to make a "sad-guy" pumpkin.

And at the end of the night...there we have it..our 4 family pumpkins.
The Ghosts. The Sad-Guy. The "Castle"-Haunted House. The Happy-Guy.

Me to the kids: "Don't you just LOVE our family of pumpkins?"
Grant: "Mom, you don't have a pumpkin." That's Jackie's, Dad's, Mine, and Gwen's pumpkins
Me: "What??  I carved BOTH of your pumpkins! Doesn't that count for anything? Can't I SHARE your two pumpkins with both of you"
Grant: "No, mom, we don't SHARE pumpkins".
Sigh.Moms never get any credit.
Pour wine.

I "jumped in" to a burning ring of fire...and it burned burned burned ......................but here's the pizza dough recipe

We have a new tradition of making homemade pizzas...The kids have a BLAST making the dough.

Into the bread machine goes:

3 cups flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tea salt
1/2 cup room temp water
1 package active dry yeast

Set bread machine to "Dough" setting..and after and 1.5 hours the dough is technically ready; however, I let mine rise overnight in the refrigerator. So pizza making is a two day process.

The next night I have the kids roll out the dough.
Spray baking sheet with olive oil spray and spread out the rolled dough
The kids then"paint" the crust with a blend of olive oil, garlic powder, Italian seasonings (oregano, parsley, basil).

Side Note: No crafting paintbrushes please! Get a few for the kitchen, they are super helpful for you and "fun" for the kids.

Bake the crust for 8 minutes at 400 degrees

Out of the hot oven and back onto the kids table.
MAKE SURE TO PUT POT-HOLDERS DOWN on the table
....and warn the kids incessantly about how hot the baking sheet is.

Add favorite toppings:

Grant's pizza was: sauce, pepperoni,and 3 cheese
Gwen: sauce (light), olives, and 2 cheeses
Adult's (well, mine) was :  NO SAUCE. Sauteed red onions, olives, fresh mozzarella, and roasted garlic. YUMMO.
Brent requested (he wasn't home yet) : sauce with double meat and triple cheese.
Totally.Heart.Healthy.

Back into the oven for another 10 minutes at 400 degrees.
Here's where it all got bad:

About 2 seconds after I put the pizza's in, I'm washing my hands in the sink and I notice out of my peripheral vision a flash.

Inner monologue: Is the cheese dripping off and burning? Damn, I just cleaned the oven
Open oven door.
HOLY SHIT THERE'S AN OVEN MIT ON FIRE IN THERE!!

So, now I ask, what do you think I do?

Do I...

A) Grab the fire extinguisher that is conveniently located under my sink and bravely put out the oven fire, thereby demonstrating to my kids how to properly put out a fire using the PASS (Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep) technique from my Fire Extinguisher Training level 2 class?

OR

B) Do I reach into the bottom of the oven and grab the ON FIRE oven mitt and dump it into the sink and turn on the water to put it out?

That's right, folks, B is correct.

After the adrenaline rush had ceased (along with the flames from the oven mitt), I notice in the chaos of the moment that my hand is gushing blood from a cut I somehow endured during the "save the pizza and the house" moment of "bravery".
HAVE.NO.IDEA. about that one...

Although the oven mitt looked like this:

I noticed the fire early enough that the pizza somehow survived (as did my hand and MOST of my arm hair).

So we went on with our night and ate our yummy pizza, ,while I attempted to use the experience to teach Grant and Gwen that touching fire is B.A.D.

Lessons learned:

1) Count  or at least be aware of how many oven mitts you are using during the pizza making process and therefore notice if one is sticking to the bottom of the cookie sheet PRIOR to putting the pizza into the oven to  cook the toppings.

2) Perhaps I should have paid more attention during "Fire Extinguisher Training Level II " instead of to the fireman teaching the class?

3) and on a serious note, I noticed that even with all of that smoke our fire alarm in the family room didn't go off and our batteries were dead. CHECK.BATTERIES.MONTHLY in smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors people.

Pour wine.

Reason #1 why I'm a Control Freak

Me to Brent: "There is a reason why I'm a control freak and it's a perfectly logical one"
Brent : "...and that is?....."
Me continuing on...."Everything's works out better when I'm in charge of it."
Brent: "Spoken like a true control freak"

No comment.


Now what happened to spark this "conversation" you are asking?

Scenario:
Grant and Gwen have picture day today (which as I'm typing this, I'm hoping the kids are smiling and pretending they love each other at least for the 2 second flash during the brother/sister photo)
...... and after much discussion with my cousin, regarding Grant's "borderline needs a haircut" state..we conclude it's best to "trim it up"

A "shape up" kind of cut.
A "touch up" kind of cut.
NOT a "I'm-heading-to-the-military-for-basic training-" kind of cut.

I gear myself and Gwen up for taking Grant after school....In San Diego, we have Bambinos salon for kids as well as  Pigtails and Crewcuts just to name a few....

We are in the car driving to Bambinos and I receive a phone call from hubby. "Let me take him to Sport Clips with me, I need a hair cut too"...

Inner monologue: "HELL NO! It's always 50/50 at that place and I cannot take a chance on a picture day haircut"

After I don't respond Brent says: "Come on, IT WILL BE FINE, and it will give you a break. I'll be home at 6:30 and we'll run up there"

Inner monologue: "Brent DOES need a haircut...."

Me to Brent: "Ok, fine. I did really like his last haircut from there...try to get Melina again and make sure they don't cut it too short"

Brent: "See you at 6:30"

Let me just fast-forward to 8:30 WHEN THEY FINALLY COME HOME from Sport Clips.

GASP.SIGH.INNER-CRY.

Me:" Grant turn around"  My big -eyed boy drinking his pumpkin shake from Jack-in-the-box turns around and I notice not only how FREAKIN short it is---but I hold up a long piece of hair on the top of his head...and shed a tear at the unevenness around the neckline "
GASP

Inner monologue: "Please Dear God let this be a bad dream"

Brent to me: "What?"

Inner monologue: "WHAT?! Can you really be that surprised with my reaction?!?!?!?"

Me to the nobody in particular: "it's SOOO SHORT and I could have cut a straighter line!!!"
Brent: "It's not that bad."

Me to cousin: "Jackie, what do you think?"
Jackie (not wanting to completely get in the middle of it but knowing she must answer) "Ummm..I've seen better"

Me to Brent :"Take him to the bath and then put him in bed...WHERE is my phone?"
Brent with semi-shock in his voice, "You're not going to CALL them, are you? It wasn't HER fault"

Inner monologue, "Really, not HER fault? She CUT his hair this way! She should not even HAVE a license"

I glare at Brent and then dial Sport Shits. I mean, Sport Clips.

Me trying in my nicest pissed-off-voice to sweet sounding girl on the phone: "Um, my husband and son were just in there for a haircut...I'm not sure who cut my son's hair..'
Sweet girl: "That was me"
Me: "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend you or anything...BUT THIS IS THE WORST HAIRCUT I'VE EVER SEEN.."
I continue on for approximately 2-3 minutes explaining the details of her failures...

Sweet girl now sounding feeble: "Oh, do you have time to bring him back in so I can fix it up?
Me: "No, sweetie, it's 8:30 and it's past his bedtime and I know you are closed. I would like a full refund"
Sweet girl: "Can I have your number and the manager will call you tomorrow and take care of it"
Me: "Yes, yes you can".

After a semi-calming hot shower, I go into Grant's room to tuck him into bed and explain to him that I'm not mad at him, I'm just not happy with how the girl cut his hair but that hair will grow back and that he is a handsome boy no matter what.
"Ok mom" he says a nods off to sleep.

This morning, I get the kids ready for their school picture and try desperately to give some "lift" to Grant's hair with some gel.
Sigh. It didn't grow in overnight as I was praying for.

Here's a quick pic of them this morning...Let's hope Gwen opens her eyes and takes her hood off for the actual picture:

Lessons and reflections:
1) When kids are "borderline" for haircuts the night before picture day, do not, under ANY circumstance, get their hair cut at any place that starts with the name "Best" or "Sports"

2) When you recognize that you are a control-freak, make sure you are in charge of a situation if you care that much about the outcome

Have I always been a control freak you ask?"
My mom often tells a story about how, at 2 years old, I would tell my grandmother that "I could do it" when it came to washing dishes after dinner and I would proceed to climb up on a stool and wash the dishes.  
Though we have always have attributed this to my "independence" ..... I now have a feeling that this was the beginnings of a control freak and  I probably thought that I could just wash the dishes better than she could.

The Rush of the Game

In college, I never "rushed".


In grad school, I started a book club (which is still going on to this day) but I dropped out because...well, because I found cramming the night before book club to read the damn book to be too stressful. 


In Santa Barbara, I attended a Junior League informational meeting with my friend, Jenn Hall....but then we moved to San Diego a month later.


In San Diego, I was Grant's "Room Mom" for his first daycare and attended PTA-like meetings that fizzled out after 6 months.




....So, when I was invited by my friend Camille to attend her Tuesday night/once a month "group"...I was...let's just say...skeptical.


Let's face it: my track record for joining "groups" (as described above) is not stellar.


But this time, it wasn't a book group, a baking group, or a bible group...
.......but it does start with "B".....


Have you guessed it yet?


Another clue: It rhymes with "drunko"


That's right:  a BUNCO group!  


Me to my friend Kathleen after being invited: "What the hell is Bunco?"


I believe her answer was something to the effect: "It's a dice game that isn't hard and you drink wine the entire time and chat".  

Inner monologue: "Wine? Night off from mommy duties? There is no reading required? Now you're talking my language!! Sure, I'll join this group"


I was all excited for Bunco. As Tuesday night approached, I learned a little detail that sent me into a bit of a nervous tizzy.


I was a "substitute" Bunco player. 
I wasn't "in" the group.


Inner monologue: "Should I still go? What if they don't like me? WHAT IF I SUCK AT BUNCO??? Maybe I should bail...I can just drink wine at my house. I hate "groups" anyway."


But the appeal for a night off from mommy duties and all of it's glorious nightly rituals including changing shitty pull-ups (WHY won't she poop in the toilet?!!?) bath time fights over washing hair with soap, and stalling during bedtime pushed me to keep my obligation as a "substitute" bunco player.


....and the $5.00 buy in was going to Susan J. Komen for the Cure.


So, I borrowed a pink t-shirt from my cousin (pink is NOT my color, unlike my daughter who, just this morning I had to fight to get a green dress on instead of her usual pink) 


...I quickly decided I should bring something to snack on and I remembered one of the Hershey kiss/ pretzel recipes I pinned the other day....and whipped these babies together:  

I met Camille at her house up the road and we walk to the Bunco host house. There, I meet around 16 fabulous ladies...ranging in age from 35 to 75 (approximately).  


All of the ladies live in the neighborhood, but "The Greens" covers a huge area (it is surrounded by The Rancho Bernardo Inn and it's golf course, and the Rancho Bernardo Country Club course---hence the name).  


I quickly learn that I was the only one from the "the other side" of the RB Inn.  


Inner Monologue: "Is being on the other side of the Inn like being from "the wrong side of the tracks?" ...I mean, I STILL have a membership to the Swim and Tennis Club after all."


Mrs. Host made a delicious turkey taco salad (NOT STORE BOUGHT TACO SEASONING--find the recipe here.


We all filled up our wine glasses, ate, chatted, and began playing Bunco...and chatted...


 I won't bore you with all of the details and rules of Bunco...if you are interested, read about it here.


 But what I WILL tell you is that: I had 6 wins, 6 losses, and 2 buncos...


Now, if I was a glass half empty person, I'd say that I lost 50% of the time, but of course, I ALWAYS keep my wine glass full, so that's more like I won 50% of the time 


My Inner-wishful image of myself playing Bunco:

At the end of the night, when the wine was put away and coffee brought out and and the tally made for whom won that night...I hear a "clink,clink,clink" of someone's spoon on their glass. 

I look around to see our host attempting to get everyone's attention:


Mrs. Host: "Ladies, we have a few newbies here tonight that we need to take a vote on"


All this time, I felt like I was "one of the gang" and the reality set in that this COULD BE MY LAST BUNCO night out.


Inner monologue as I feel my face beginning to match my tshirt:, "Shit! Was my two Bunco's enough to win over the crowd? Did they like the hershey pretzels well enough? Maybe they don't want someone from "the other side of the Inn?"


Other Bunco gals: "We need some fresh faces around here!" They're in!!


Whoo hoo!! I'm in! I'm part of the Tuesday night/once a month/we say we are doing it for the dice game but in reality it's to drink wine and socialize group!"






Lessons Learned:

1) A Bunco is when you roll 3 of the same number on 3 die for the number that you are playing for at that time. (ie. if you are rolling for 6's and you roll 6 on all 3 of them). This is worth 21 points.


2) A mini-Bunco is when you roll 3 of the same number for any other number except for what you are rolling for--this is worth 5 points


3) Bunco really isn't about the game. 


4) Bunco is my kind of group.

Redemption

Received this nice Thank you card from Miss Teacher for the popcorn cake. 
Great, now I feel bad for my red carpet response. 

Lessons learned: 


1) sometimes people aren't outwardly appreciative 


2) Thank you cards are nice to receive..I've been horrible about sending them out in the last few years but I think I'm going to start again.

Red Carpet Response

I'm only blogging about this because I've had requests from all of you (ok, well, just my mom and my friend Tasha--but I'm sure they are just a sampling of the greater population that reads this blog and my masses of fans have been up all night wondering: 


What DID Miss Teacher think of the popcorn cake?


As I'm driving to the school, I have this my vision for the response I was going to receive  (come on folks jump on board with me, it's friday):


As I walk into the school, I notice...Could it be? For me? The red carpet and crowds standing  alongside, applauding, cheering, holding out paper for autographs, requests for more cakes for birthdays, bar mitzvahs, and baptisms.


"Thank you, Thank you", I say.  "It wasn't my best work, but I'm happy with the level of authenticity I achieved with the marshmallows as popcorn"


And at the end of the red carpet, I see Miss Teacher, tears of joy in her eyes: "I have NEVER, EVER, have received a more beautiful cake in my life. My birthday is now complete. Grant will have my undivided attention for the rest of the school year. He will be the line leader, the light switch helper and the lunch buddy for the remainder of the year" And I see Grant, with a big smile on his face. "Thank you mommy: Miss Teacher gave me a star today"


Fade into reality as I pull into the parking lot.


Here's how it REALLY went down:


I walk into school and the director and the secretaries comment how lovely the cake was.
Walk (somewhat quickly, there's excitement in my step) to room 3B and ....
.....to my HORROR I see the cake STILL FULLY intact.
Uneaten.


No time for inner monologue; I ask/shout:"YOU DIDN"T EAT THE CAKE?"


Miss Teacher: "I want to bring it home to show my roommate. Thank you"


Inner monologue: "That's it? Thank you? Do you EVEN KNOW HOW FREAKIN LONG it took to put those marshmallows on there? 
 
Inner monologue continues "And do you SEE my red hands? The are burnt from the melted chocolate-thin-plastic-bottle fiasco. Thank you? That's all I get?"


I quiet my mind and outwardly point out: "These are REAL movie tickets on the here... (I realize the moment the words exit my mouth that I'm making them out to be FRONT row seats to some sold out premier instead of two-for-one Costco Regal tickets)....but I quickly finish...." so don't throw them away" 


Miss Teacher: "I know"
Then, I look around for Grant. He's not by the computer station; Not by puzzles
Me to Miss Teacher: "Where's Grant"
Miss Teacher: "He's under the table hiding".

Pinning, Popcorn, and ONE BIG CUPCAKE

I wish I had something clever or funny to say...but the exhaustion has set in and my mind is becoming cloudy....it's one of those days where I actually consider trekking out to my mommy vehicle and sleeping on the dog bed that exists in the 3rd row during my lunch break. Instead I choose to blog...could regret this later on.


Why so tired you may ask? 


After cramming a days lab work into 3 hours and then running home to take care of hand, foot, and mouth girl, I get a burst of energy during her nap time to bake a birthday cake for Grant's teacher's birthday.


It all started with thinking that buying Miss Teacher Costco movie tickets  (2 for $15) was a thoughtful, money-saving idea...but how to give Miss Teacher the tickets? 
Inside a card? 
In a gift box?....and then along came Pinterest.

I must explain before proceeding with story...


If you haven't heard of this site...you MUST, I mean MUST try it...it's a virtual organizer for...well just about everything you could could ever want to bake, cook, drink, travel to, decorate, craft...etc.  


The gist of it is: 1)You find something you like then 2) "pin it" to your own "bulletin board".  Your "boards" contain the pins with links back to the original link where you will have your recipe or other instructions. 


If you thought Facebook was a time-sink, just wait until you get sucked into this site.


You can "follow" peoples "boards" and see what they've been pinning. There is no "friending" (like Facebook) so you can follow whose ever boards you'd like. 


Got it? Here's a like to my "boards"...


Back to the story...I found this idea on Pinterest, so I cannot take credit for it. However, I did upgrade a bit from cupcakes to ONE BIG CUPCAKE.

I have the silicon baking pan for ONE BIG CUPCAKE and I have used it before for a birthday cake two years ago (for myself, nonetheless..who else was going to bake me a cake?)
Here it is:  


Side note 1: Look at my munchkins!! Gwen was 7 months and Grant 2 years 6 months old!


Side note 2: Grant still wears those pajamas two years later. YAY for small babies and Hanna Anderson quality clothes!

So, using this pan, I baked a standard German chocolate cake and headed to our local Michaels to look for "popcorn container" paper...I was HOPING they had red and white striped scrapbook paper.  

Side note 3: YAY for San Diego having TWO Michaels and even better that it was on sale for $0.25 for a piece of paper!


I wrapped the paper around the bottom of the cake, to give it a "popcorn box" look...


Then I frosted the top with cream cheese frosting....


Then, I recruited my neighbor, Jack, and Gwen to pull apart about a million little marshmallows and stick them back together again (this makes the marshmallows look like little popcorn nuggets when they are layered on the cake)


Then, once you've got your marshmallows on the cake, take 2 drops of yellow food coloring in water and "paint" the marshmallows for a "movie butter-like" look.


Voila: Popcorn cake:

Now, attach movie tickets using cute little "candy" stickers (had these in my crafting "bin"--which is basically 1/3 of our garage.)  My husband likes to tell people that "if Michaels doesn't have it, we probably do".

I decided to "go the extra mile" and write "Happy Birthday Miss Teacher--ok, now you all know her name is Stephanie, but whatever, it's not like she reads the blog), but I think I went a little too far. 

I melted chocolate (those little disks from Michaels) inside the candy bottle, which is made of the THINNEST.PLASTIC.EVER.

The nozzle kept clogging and I constantly had to clean it out and re-warm the chocolate, which kept INCREASING the temperature of the damn plastic bottle. 

It was just a mess and I burnt my hands.

 Go ahead, ask my cousin. She was watching me the entire time. 

During what I like to think was an "ah ha!" moment, I put on silicon oven mitts to squeeze the bottle.  It wasn't my best work, but here it is in it's entirety.

I haven't picked up Grant just yet from school, so I haven't heard her reaction...but I'm a bit nervous as she was the teacher who thought I used "black cheese" on Grant's bento sandwich the other day. 


I hope I redeemed myself.
I

Spidey's last meal.

Now, don't get me wrong, Gwen has PLENTY of dolls to play with..however, it appeared that Grant's spiderman needed some attention from little sister Gwen who kindly provided Spidey with his bottle this morning:

Two hours later, it appears that Spidey had HAD enough of "tea parties", playing "Dora", and otherwise "non-cool" Spiderman activities and as I walked past my front door, I noticed that Spidey had decided put an end to the humiliation:

I preface this photo by saying I did NOT help Gwen, in anyway stage this.

Farewell Spidey. Some days, I too cannot take any more Dora.

Should of kept my Hand, Foot in Mouth--

My morning started off like with two happy kids...Gwen was giving Grant hugs at breakfast:

Drop kids off at school and off to work I go, sipping my homemade pumpkin latte (recipe to follow in another blog)

Pull in to work at 7:30 a.m. on the dot and begin experiments.. 

8:30a.m receive call from Gwen's school from the Ms. Director, who informs me that "my little Gwennie" has "hand, foot, mouth disease" which has been plaguing/ infesting room 6C. Continues Ms. Director "She COULD have stayed at school because she feels fine, but because she has PUSSY blisters, I need you to come pick her up".

Inner monologue: "Shit, Shit, Shit, Damnit"

I immediately enter "Multi-task Mom-Scientist Mode" and begin getting my lab work prepped for my inevitable departure in 30 minutes to pick up Gwen while trying to get a hold of husband by phone and boss via email.

Call Brent. No answer.

Text Brent. No answer.

Text Brent with an "ASAP" attached. No answer

Typical. 

Side note: It's amazing that I went into labor BOTH times when Brent was actually around because had I needed to get a hold of him to take me to the hospital, I would have been having a home birth for each kid. For SURE.

Call Gwen's doctor as I'm driving to the school.

Secretary informs me: "She's out of town for a week, do you want to talk to another doctor"

Me: "Ummm.... YESSSS"...continuing a bit sarcastically: " I certainly didn't call to talk to the secretary...... She has some sort of Hand, foot, and mouth disease! I want to speak to a medical professional ASAP!"

And under my breath..."I hope you don't respond to "ASAP" like my husband does"

After 15 minutes...Dr. Substitute-for-our-doctor calls back--actually, I believe her words were, "We don't WANT her in our office".

Now I'm having visions of my beautiful Gwen having sores and blisters all over the place, like some Halloween witch with boils on her face....something like this:

I finally arrive to Gwen's school and she's waiting in the front office and at first glance she looked fine. (THANK GOD no boils on her  face)..and then I start to think they must have the wrong child...and then they show me her hands:

They are EVER so tiny..but they're present...so for now, we are at home, hoping they don't go to her mouth or her feet....and she is eating popcycles and icecream because, according to her, "she's berry, berry sick"...
..and watching Dora. 
Someone please bring me wine.


Hand, foot, and mouth disease is a virus and there is nothing you can do except wait it out...read more about it here

And I JUST said to Ms. Teacher yesterday: "..looks like by keeping Gwen home last week with my parents in town, we were lucky enough to miss the incubation period"...
Nice.
I should have inserted "hand, foot into mouth" as I was making THAT statement.

Of pumpkins, poop, and superheros...

Now, for those of you that know me, you know that I have, let's call it..a "strong personality"....weaved with a bit of a "Type A-don't-mess-with-me-or-my-family" and "do-not-test-mommy-because-she-WILL-follow-through-with-her-threats".


Chapter 1: The Pumpkin Patch


Grant's school went to one of the many pumpkin patches around town last Tuesday. Of course, you can imagine that I JUMPED on the opportunity to be the mommy helper...admittedly because I need to ensure that Grant arrives safely from the school bus at the patch and does not get lost, hurt, or otherwise damaged in the corn maze.  It's a control thing, yea, I know. 
Here are some photos:


Grant and his friends (Iris,Preston, Arthur).

Grant picked out THE BIGGEST pumpkin out of his entire class (mommy had to carry the entire morning)

Grant and his friend, PJ

The class of 3B, Carmel Mountain Preschool

Hayride around the pumpkin patch.

Things I learned at the pumpkin patch:


1) The white pumpkins are the cooking-type pumpkins....the canned "Libby's" pumpkin puree...exclusively from white pumpkins. Apparently the water to pumpkin ratio is lower than the orange varietals. So, all of you reading this who are planning on cooking with "not-from-the-can pumpkin" this fall season, go get yourself the right kind of cooking pumpkin.


2) Second thing I learned was not about pumpkins, but about gourdes. The ORIGINAL maracas (used by indigenous tribes) are dried gourdes which take 3-6 months to dry before you can use them as instruments....and besides instruments.... Have you seen these things when they are dry and painted?? BEAUTIFUL--and they sell for $200-$300 each...check out one artist's painted gourds here....not a bad return for a $5.00 gourde...


......hmmmm... (lightbulb moment: painting gourdes has NOT been explored in my numerous crafting endeavors which range from scrapbooking, crocheting, cake decorating and yes, even basket weaving....)


....so of course I bought one and am currently rotating the gourde to promote re-adsorption of the water and therefore speedier drying. Blog post to follow in 6-8 months.




Chapter 2 Poop on Halloween


We've been gearing up for Halloween and the house is filled with my fall decorations..the kids rooms each have "light up" pumpkins and there are fall leaves (the Michaels kind) all around the house on the mantal and the kitchen bar.  Grant is going to be a Transformer. Gwen is kindly recycling Grant's $50 Elmo costume for me. (Note: she wanted to be a princess, but I informed her that she is a princess every day and that she should be Elmo--this seems to have satisfied her..for now...I digress..this post isn't about Gwen, so I'll stop now).


Anyway, we've been having some "issues" with Grant. He's been FULLY potty trained since he was 2.5, but in the last month, he's been having "accidents"...the "Number 2" kind of accidents.  At school, outside playing,at restaurants, AT THE PADRES GAME....we have been trying to wrap our heads around it..and reasons we've come up to "justify" these incidents are :


1)Maybe he's just waiting to long and it's a "I-can't-wait-until-I-find-a-bathroom" situation. 


Attempted solution = talking kindly and nicely to him about not waiting until the last minute.  Strength of our solution= weak. He's still pooping an I'm throwing out 2-3 pairs of undies a week..


....and sorry folks, although I try to be thrifty, environmentally conscious, etc etc, I DO NOT WASH POOPY UNDERWEAR.  TOTALLY.FREAKIN'.GROSS.
Straight in the trash it goes.




2) Maybe he's upset about Gwen getting attention for her successes inpotty training? 


Attempted Solution= we have started "rewarding" Grant with whatever Gwen is currently receiving as her "treat" if he tells her "Good Job Gwen". (Currently chocolate covered pretzel MnM's


Strength of the solution= Moderate. There are no more tears when I tell him: "It's Gwen's treats for peeing", but his pooping his pants "issue" persists.




New solution to the problem = Have him accumulate "stars" on his chart for good efforts...not just of the bathroom kind...but for being nice to his sister, for cleaning up his toys...for doing his homework..and losing stars for pooping his pants. 


But what to do if he loses all of his stars?
We've tried:


1) Taking away his favorite TV shows...but he is content just watching whatever his sister is watching (Dora-all-the-freakin'-time...I have nightmares about this chica and if she will ever make it to find King Unicornio)


2) Taking away his "Mobigo" game for a few nights....but this doesn't bother him as he just reads books instead.



What would REALLY sink in and solve this problem once and for all? Threatening to lose Halloween. He will NEVER POOP HIS PANTS if he knows Halloween will be gone for him.


Fast forward to yesterday afternnoon. Senario: Grant in his room playing his mobi-go and not napping. Fine. Whatever. He's probably dropping naps now anyways. Enter me into room to put clothes away.  Inner monologue: "Geez, it smells kind of shitty in here. Maybe his room is just stuffy".  
Open window.
Walk out of room and almost STEP on a dime size TURD that is on his carpet.


Inside I'm FREAKING OUT and can feel my face red with fury. 


What I do: Calmly pick up the poop turd and bring it to husband who is working on his computer. "Brent, there is poop on Grant's floor".


Brent deals with the situation with Grant (it's nice to know I'm not the only one who has HIT THE ROOF with anger about him pooping his pants).


I proceed to get my steam cleaner (I was looking for a good excuse anyway to clean the carpets) and as I move his hamper away I notice TWO pairs of underwear that have poop in them thrown inside 


Inner monologue: Really Grant? Is this the best you can do to try and cover it up? You throw poop filled underwear inside your hamper?


I approach Brent about the underwear sitaution and we come to the conclusion that, No, it's not that he was have accidents... Grant was just immersed in other more exciting activities (this time being his video games) and being TOO lazy to walk the 2 feet from his bedroom into the bathroom to go potty.


NOT.ACCEPTABLE.PERIOD.


I look at his star chart which is down to 1 remaining star and rip it off and proceed (calmly, zen-like) to take down his Halloween decorations in his room.
Halloween is over for Grant. He cries in his bed. I feel bad for him, but unsure of what else to do at the moment.




Chapter 3 Superhero among us


For the privacy of our friends, I'm not going to mention specific names and Brent would prefer I didn't even blog about it. But I think there is an ever so important message and lesson and I urge all of you to take this seriously.


We were at dinner last night at our friends house. They have a pool. She is a life long swimmer and an ISR instructor. They have two children, one Grant's age and a 15 month old (I think he's 15months, may be +/- a month). We were all eating outside and Grant and the older boy were riding hotwheels around the pool (which does have a gate, but the boys were inside the gate next to the pool riding the cars along the concrete path . All of our eyes were on the boys THE WHOLE time. Gwen and the baby were keepiig close to the adults so I wasn't too worried about them..and
. 
BOTH OF MY KIDS AND THEIR KIDS ARE WATER SAFE. Thanks to ISR lessons as well as normal swimming lessons.


Still, it makes you (ok, ME) nervous.  They eased my mind by saying, "dont worry, the worst that will happen is they will fall in and get wet and cold."
Still, I'm a worrier by nature.  I come by it honestly. We have friends who have lost children to drowning accidents. It's the #1 killer of children under the age of two...get your kids water safe my friends.....


We finish dinner and it gets dark and the boys grab flashlights to use as they cruise around the pool. Again, we are watching them the entire time.
Then...
...I hear a scream from Grant, "YOUR BABY'S IN THE POOL!!!!"...as he's shining his flashlight into the water.


We all jump 15 feet out of our chairs and look immediately next to me and see Gwen. My heart races.
It's the baby. He's fallen into the pool.
His dad runs over there and pulls him straight out of the water.  The mom and dad undress him and rushes him upstairs to take a warm bath.
He is alright, just wet and cold... and scared.


After the adrenaline rush had subsided we talk about the incident and I share with you THESE LESSONS LEARNED:


1) It only takes a second, a split second, a half-a-blink and kids can fall into the water.  There was no big splash when he fell in, no cry for help from him.
WE WERE WATCHING THEM...and none of us adults saw him fall into the water. 


2) There is a reason they tell you not to use those 'noodles' as toys in the pool. Here's the reason: Although he is ISR trained and apparently was trying to be on his back when he fell in, there was a hose in the water and he was grabbing for the hose to hold onto..which he most probably thought was one of those noodles which would keep him a float. That moment of thinking of a hose as a noodle and not focusing on his training could have been disastrous. 


3) Superhero's among us take on all shapes and sizes and can be as innocent as a 4 year old who recognizes an emergency situation.






Now, Do I reward Grant for his quick thinking and allow him to "Have Halloween" again?


...and icing on the cake? He pooped in the toilet this morning.