3 Cakes - No Stinkin' Fair

Who out there has ever had 3 cakes for their Birthday? Let me reword - 3 cakes baked by the same person? I think there is an unwritten rule forbidding such a thing.

I know from deep and thoughtful reflection I was never spoiled in such a gross manner. My husband, I think has at least had 3 cakes. For the past 2 years we have been out west visiting family during his Birthday. This of course means Birthday dinner at my Mom's (she spoils him so), Birthday dinner at his Mom's (of course she spoils him) and then Birthday dinner from me (I have to compete).

But, Jayce. My own son, who I have been given the charge to not overindulge, spoil and ruin. I have failed. This year he had 3, all baked by me.

1. Birthday cake at his party. 2 of them, because you have to have enough for guests

2. Cake for his class at school, which I turned into cake pops. Mine were really ugly, tasted good. Go here to see what I am talking about, Bakerella.

3. The family party also deserves a cake.

Here are some pics of the last cake (sorry no pictures of my ugly cake pops - I am perfecting it) and his new remote control car.

PULL THEE SWITCH!!

Since I begged, pleaded, and was lazy, Jayce did not have a Birthday Party last year. Every other year is adequate. Right?
We had an all Boy Mad Scientist Party!!

The invitation were swollen paper test tubes with the information on the back. I almost lost my mind and had the party for 3 hours instead of 2 (good thing I caught the typo).
Now keep in mind that I was raised all girls.

When the boys (14 total, counting Jayce and Grahm) arrived we made slime - or snot (you just use clear glue in the recipe). This of course meant that only half of the boys were listening or even in the room. The rest were playing Basketball.

Then we took the party to the backyard for some explosive fun. We used old plastic film canister and launched the lids. I asked questions and explained the science of it all - but they just wanted to see the "rockets".

You should ask boys what makes a rocket go if there is no fire. Interesting theories...
Back to my rocket story. So, I ordered everyone back. I put the Alkaseltzer tablet (only 1/2) into the canister and added the vinegar, snapped the lid on and sat it on the grass. The lid popped a few feet into the air - yeah it worked. They swarmed me to get their chance, they quickly complied and fell into an orderly line. I added the magic and snapped the lid on and handed it to the first boy. What did he do?

He stood in the middle of the lawn and held it - the same way I have seen crazy boys hold roman candles. I should have known. Before to long they were pointing them at each other. I should have known. Good news, only one boy ended up with vinegar in his eyes.

Next, we made a Soda Geyser. You dump a bunch of Mentos in Diet Coke (no sugar is good in this case) and watch in shoot out of the bottle about 20 feet. They even make a nifty little gadget for quickly dumping your Mentos into a 2 liter bottle. The boys of course liked this. I tried to keep them at a safe distance, but while we were patiently waiting for Jason to prepare the geysers (we did 3) they boys would race around and try to get closer to the mess.

Then, we headed back in and we made homemade Root Beer. First of all, who does not like homemade Root Beer and who does not like Dry Ice smoke? The boys were fascinated by it all, by this point had given up trying to explain the science behind it all.

We ate Radioactive Wraps (turkey, cheese, and lettuce on green tortillas), molecules (melon balls and grapes on toothpicks), Doritos, and Root Beer (in Erlenmeyer flasks). They actually ate, well not all of them - but they did...

We had cake in the shape of a Brain and we had ice cream. They played basketball and Jayce opened his presents randomly in spite of my request not to. He was completely spoiled and I was educated in what toys 7 year old boys like. Have you ever heard of Lego Power Miners?

Oh, and no Root Beer was spilled.

First and Second Grade School Program

I just love school programs. I thought they were fun when I was a kid and now I get to sit in the audience and grin like my kid just performed an Oscar Award winning performance!!
Jayce is in a combined first and second grade classroom, there are three at his school. This year the school theme has been about Fish. They also learn French at his school, so the performance was peppered with French - from phrases to songs. Jayce gave the introduction. So here are some cute pics of the event, you can see Jayce's personality in some of them.

"Jayce, smile...."

"Seriously, smile for me...."

I have at least 5 of these. I guess this is the new smile!!

Happy Be-lated!!

Since I was stuck in a car driving on his actual Birthday I couldn't post a Birthday post for him.

Happy Birthday Jason!!

This is one of the best days of the whole year. Just think if this special day had not happened - I would not have all the wonderful things in my life that I do. I am very grateful. You are one amazing guy - you can fix anything, you can ride horses, you can train horses, mend fence, wrestle cattle, hunt, cook, get accepted to Dental school, get good grades, do beautiful dentistry, make furniture just to my liking, quiet all my fears, and kiss away my tears. I love you and hope you had a good one!!

The Ride Home

On the ride home we decided to stop at Mount Rushmore. That way we can check it off our to do list. Except we got there before it opened so we couldn't go into the museum. So if all you do is stare at it, does it count? The kids got to run around after all night in the car driving.

Spring Break - Marathon!!

Spring Break is probably one of the cruelest school vacations ever. It is way too short and just an exercise in staying motivated. We spent our scanty 7 days (stretched to 10) visiting family.
We left Milwaukee around 8pm on Saturday the 7 .
This was after Jason had spent the day facing his grueling CRDTS Exam (which he passed with flying colors - I think his low score was a 96 - smart and talented men are sexy!!).
We then drove straight through to Idaho, no breakfast, no lunch, no dinner, only potty breaks. We got there about 10pm on Sunday the 8. The kids were so great and easy in the car.


Jason spent the next few days finishing the Damascus Steel Knife I had given him for Christmas. We hung out and made memories. For my Brother-in-Laws' birthday dinner my mom fixed Romanian food - which was yummy. For Jason's birthday dinner we tried our hand at Sushi - really California Rolls. I thought the rice turned out a little too sweet.





After a few days we headed to Utah to visit the Geary's. We celebrated Jason's Birthday again (spoiled much?!?). We hung out, Jenny and Stacey helped entertain the kids - yeah for nieces.

This is a picture of Grahm just before dinner was served. When you are starving and waiting what else would you do?





After we had worn out our welcome we jumped back in the car and headed to Idaho - cuz' I always forget something. Pillows are very important (and I ended up forgetting my sweatshirt in Utah, too.). After eating dinner in Idaho we really headed home.

The Kitchen finished!

 

Milwaukee Renovation Revisted!!

I thought I would spend the next few posts - showing how far we have come. This is the kitchen. These pictures were taken during the home inspection (so the stuff is not mine!!!)

If You Really Want To Get Freaked Out, Open These Up and Zoom In!!!


You will see grease on the walls, massive spider webs a half century old and caked with grease covering the walls and corner, Cockroach poop and if you are really lucky you might even see a cockroach.
















In case you where wondering. Once we realized our new home was Roach infested and covered with roach poop, I decided I could not use that kitchen - no matter how hard I scrubbed. So I politely and ever so gently asked Jason if we could please just throw it all away.
Next time see what it looks like now!!

Milwaukee Renovation Revisited!!

We officially listed the house last night or this morning (I know bad timing with the economy). We now have a sign out front. Jason graduates in May and will be active duty in the Navy again. We still can not believe it has been 4 years. We have loved this house and I wanted to share how far we have come.

We purchased this house in May of 2005. In 2005 Grahm was 6 months old, Jayce was 3, Jason had just finished 2 years of service in the Navy in Great Lakes, IL. I was enjoying the extreme weight loss thanks to breastfeeding. Jason and I had less wrinkles, less grey hair (in Jason's case - maybe a few more), and a few less aches and pains.

Here is the house in April of 2005!














Here is part way through - small improvement. May of 2006!!



















Here is what the house looks like now, October 2008!! Wowee - super cute!!



















If you think that is impressive, you should see the backyard!! This is actually during the major part of renovation. We were playing hillbilly at this time. These pictures are from June of 2005. We had no kitchen (not even a kitchen sink), no bathroom (there was a laundry sink and a toilet in the basement - not a favorite place of mine), and no laundry facilities (Jason had not hooked up the water heater yet). This is also before we ordered the dumpster for all the yucky crap we were hauling out.















So a quick recap of what happened to the exterior of the house in the past 4 years!!

Took off plastic porch cover, new roof, poured concrete (mixed one bag at time - very dry- by me) along the south side of the house and driveway, sided the garage to match (it was brown), retaining wall, fence, garden fence, raspberry plants, privacy bushes, repainted some of the exterior trim, painted porch and basement, yanked out overgrown bushes in front, laid sod, planted perennials, swing set... More pictures to come of the backyard all done.

Cutest Pictures of Charlotte!!!

My friend Shalet took some beautiful pictures of Charlotte for her 1 year old pictures, you gotta document it. Go here to check them out. Here is a sneak peak.

Now to pick!! What to print, what to do, what to do?