No, I'm not gonna do it. I'm not gonna do it. imnotgonnadoitimnotgonnadoitimnotgonnadoit

 So I decided to get my flu shot the other day. I knew Walmart was having a flu shot clinic daily so I stopped there. The boys were with me. I didn't mention it to them at first because I didn't want them to get too stressed out and I wasn't sure they would give the shot to kids. (I was torn between giving them some time to think about it and accept it, and springing it on them so they didn't have time to think about it. I'm still not sure which would have worked better.)


Anyway, we get there and I tell them what I'm planning. They were none too happy, but not too stressed yet, afterall, it wasn't a sure thing for them.

Then we get to the flu shot table and I see the sign. Ages 4 and up. Hey, guess what boys?

Once again, they were none too happy. Or should I say, they both ran about 15 feet away, in opposite directions and started gibbering 'No, I'm not gonna do it. I'm not gonna do it. imnotgonnadoitimnotgonnadoitimnotgonnadoit.'

Needless to say, after much cajoling by me and the nurses, much yelling and whining by the boys and some bribery by me, Snickers and I got the flu shot. Doodlebug elected to put it off a few more days and go with Daddy to have it done.

Maybe next year I'll try warning them ahead of time. Or maybe not.

Quack!

CAKE!

 The 'bucket of popcorn' cake came out awesome. It looked cool and tasted pretty good too. I used my favorite vanilla cake recipe, but that recipe is really best with a chocolate ganache frosting - something nice and chocolately, so it wasn't as tasty as I would have liked, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. Here's a picture of it:

The hubby had a nice birthday and doesn't seem to mind too much that's he's now as old as I am. Well, he'll never be as old as I am. I'll always be 5 months older. But now he has the same number I do. 40! A nice round number I think. It's even. It's divisible by 2, 4, 5, 8, 10 and 20. It has a 4 in it. And a 0. It's less than 41 and other numbers higher than 41. It's a good number!

Here are a few other pictures - the sheep cake:

And the sheep cake's socks:

And here he is all lit up. How pretty:

And some matching sheep cupcakes (I had to get some chocolate in here!)

And the Sheldon J Plankton cake:

 
Next up is some sort of cake for the 'Squirrels in Costume' party. Yes, that's right. Squirrels in costume. How's that for a theme? I love it! I don't recall how Sweet Pea came up with that, but we were brainstorming one night (when she was supposed to be sleeping) and somehow came up with that one. (It must have been very very late). Even better than Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. Certainly more imaginative! So now it's time to plan invitations, decorations and the cake.
Quack!

Sometimes It's Too Much Work To Do Things Whole Assed

Yes, I admit. I sometimes do things half assed. Usually I'm fairly well organized (in a very cluttered sort of way) and I usually like to do things right but sometimes there just isn't time (or the need or the want), to do things completely and thoroughly perfectly.

Take for instance folding laundry. I'm OK with folding shirts and pants. Of course I am. I don't want to be a wrinkled mess! I also believe in hanging shirts and dresses and such on hangers. But when it comes to socks and underwear and pajamas? Uh, no! There is no folding there. Let's not get crazy.

And sheets? Again, no. Sorry. I don't have the time to fold sheets. For heaven's sakes I sleep on them. No one else sees them. They get wrinkled and crumpled and mussed up just from the sleep process. I am not going to waste precious minutes carefully folding them. Ditto for towels - except the ones that are on the shelf in the bathroom on plain view - those get folded. But the rest of them - Bah! Stuff 'em in the closet.

I hear you. And I agree. It makes for a wadded up, tangled mess of a closet. It's definately hard to find things in there. It's not organized at all. My husband turns into a cursing ball of quivering muscles, cold sweat popping out on his brow, heart pounding whenever he even thinks of opening that door - heck, just walking past it will sometimes get a good sweat going. But hey, I know that for every minute spent looking for something, I've saved myself a good ten minutes of folding. To me, the end justifies the means.

I know not everyone agrees with this. I know that some of you are shaking your heads sadly and agonizing over my evil ways. And I know that some of you are shocked, just shocked that there are people out there who DO NOT FOLD sheets! Oh my heavens! And I know that there are a few people out there who agree with me. And I suspect there may be at least one or two people in the world who fold sheets and hate it and I hope they realize that they don't have to fold sheets. Trust me. You really don't have to. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with folding sheets. There's nothing wrong with people who do. But if you really don't want to - go crazy! Wad that sucker up and just stuff it in the closet! Ha ha ha! Laugh while you do it. Laugh out loud and yell "In your face sheet folders!"

Um, ok, anyway. That's it for today's post. 

Quack!

Spiderman Bat Dance And Other Fairly Fun Things

 I know, I know! A little late, but hey. I'm a busy woman! Here are some pictures of our recent trips to the state fair.

A fun game where we won some prizes

The hubster's favorite - Nick Nichols and his Tool Chest talking about old tools and woodworking.

Feeding the ducks at the duck races (This is Ginormous Duck afterall - we need a duck picture!)

A sweet sweet little baby chickie that we got to hold at the 4H exibit.

And a picture of the Ferris Wheel (this is actually a picture from 2 years ago, but hey - I like the picture and it looks the same every year so we can just pretend it's from this year.

One of the highlights for Doodlebug was when we were walking along the midway and a teen boy gave Doodlebug his huge, blow-up, Spiderman, baseball bat. It was about 5 feet long and a foot wide. I'm sure he didn't want to carry it around all day, so he gave it to Doodlebug. Doodlebug's eyes opened wide and his mouth dropped open. He was speechless with disbelief. Then, after the shock wore off he got a huge grin on his face, squealed in delight and did a little Spiderman-bat dance. It was very cute! It made up for the fact that we had to carry it around all day, constantly getting beat across the head and face every time he turned around. :-)

Quack!

Cake Season - Part 2

 As I said yesterday, cake season is exhausting, but fun. By the time I'm done with Snickers cake, the fair cake, Mom's and my brother's cakes I'm all caked out. And I still have hubby and Sweet Pea's birthdays to contend with.

One year hubsterdoodles decided that a cake shaped like a bucket of popcorn would be uber-cool. I agreed and set about planning. I went so far as to make the bucket shaped cake and covered it in a nice buttercream crumb coat. And that's as far as it got. I lost all interest and enthusiasm and ended up not finishing it. So, he got a nice big white cylinder cake for his birthday.

 
It was a nice cylinder, but it was rather plain. And nothing like the awesome cake we both had pictured. I promised I would try again some year.

And that year is here.

He's turning the big 4-0 this year and he's having a movie themed party (a small party, but a party nonetheless) with a bucket of popcorn cake. I promise, unless something unexpected happens, I will finish it this time.

Then, the final cake of the season is Sweet Pea's. I don't know yet what cake she wants, but her party theme is Lord of the Rings so it could be anything from the One Ring to a life size replica of Mount Doom. It should be fun no matter what.

Quack!

Cake Season - Part 1

 Fall seems to be cake season. It starts with Snicker's mid-August birthday. Then it's the state fair a few weeks later, then my Mother's and brother's birthday a few weeks after that. Towards the end of September is the hubsterific's birthday, then Sweet Pea's is in early October. Whew! That's 6 fancy schmancy (because I can't just make them simple) cakes in 8 weeks. I'm out of breath just thinking about it.

Snicker's had his bug cake (which was fun!)

I skipped the Fair cake this year, but helped Sweet Pea with hers.

My Mother's cake will be this weekend's project. It's going to be a sheep cake. No, it's not going to have sheep as an ingredient. Well, maybe a little mutton in the frosting. But it's going to be sheep shape. Hey, I like that. Sheep shape. Has a certain ring to it. Anyway, when my sister and I were younger we got Mom a pair of sheep socks one year for her birthday. They were maroon ankle socks with little white sheep all over them and a single black sheep on each sock. They were fun and cute. And Mom (she's a wonderful mother!) wore them a lot. I don't think she really liked them - not in a high-fashion sense. They were silly. But she wore them and we noticed. So, I'm making a sheep cake. A sheep wearing maroon sheep socks. I expect that even is she doesn't like it, she will eat a little and we will notice. She's awesome like that. (But really, Mom. If you don't like it, you don't have to eat it. I won't mind.)

And I sometimes make a cake for my brother's birthday. I don't know yet if I will this year. It depends on how long it takes to get the sheep cake sheep shape. Or something like that. If I do make one, it will be Spongebob-related. He's a big fan of Spongebob Squarepants. I've already made a Spongebob cake, but there's always the Pineapple Under the Sea, Gary the Snail, Patrick, Plankton, etc, etc, etc. Just thinking about it is getting the wheel's turning.

Tune in tomorrow for Cake Season #2 where I talk about the abuses the hubby has faces when it comes to his cakes.


Quack!

The Results Are In!!

The results are in! (Actually, they've been in for quite a while - I'm just late reporting it.) Sweet Pea got a first place ribbon for her crane picture. And Doodlebug got a second place ribbon for his "Many Powers" abstract painting. Awesome! Any my tiny book made of wood chips, beads, wire and 'distressed' paper got a second as well. Very exciting!

In addition, Snickers' flower painting was on display and Doodlebug's violets were on display. It was so nice to see them hanging on the walls of the fair for everyone to see.

And, drum roll please, Sweet Pea's cake won first place! A nice big fat blue ribbon. The theme this year was the Art and Home Building so her cake had four 'rooms' each featuring different things from the Art and Home building - a quilt room, a photography room, a model train room and a player piano room. The ladies running the booth/contest were very excited to meet her and took a picture of her with her cake.

It's gonna be hard to beat this next year!

Quack!

Ice Crystal Mountains

You know how sometimes you put stuff in the freezer and it gets lost? Buried beneath piles of other mysterious frozen things? Well, sometimes, when you dig it out and open it up you are pleasantly surprised. Sometimes what you find is a tiny winter wonderland with ice crystal mountains and sparkling spikes of icy beauty. Like this:

I think beneath that beauty was some tomato sauce. Let's put it in verse:

Icy wonderland
In my freezer discovered
Sparkling, crystal spikes

Quack!

A Blackberry Eating Monstrosity - How Cute!

We found this bug on our blackberry bushes. There were 4 or 5 of them. Probably some blackberry eating monstrosity that will eat the bushes to the ground, infest the house and turn it to sawdust, but since I don't know for sure I can say "Awww. Look. How cute!"

He's blue and orange and has a cute compact shape. He had little spiky bumps on his back and 6 little legs. Very sweet (as long as it's on the plant and not on me.)

Quack!

Aquarium is Full. Oh Wait. It's Not.

Over the course of the last few months we've taken the snails and feeder guppies out of the aquarium. The aquarium was overstocked at one point (I blame the swarm of snails) and got so cloudy we could barely see the fish. So, we moved the girl guppies and the snails to their own bowl. They seem happy. Then we moved the boy guppies to their own bowl. And, as time went by we ended up with just a couple of fancy guppies in the tank. The water cleared up and is now crystal clear. Apparently that was too much of a shock to Sunny as we found him belly up one day.


So, we made a trip to the pet store. The rule of thumb is about one inch of fish per gallon of water. We have a 10 gallon tank so that meant we could get about 8 inches of fish. (Shiny, the only remaining fish at home has an adult size of 2 inches.)

So, we got a 4 inch loach, (very cool, like an eel or a snake - it slithers on the bottom mostly), a 1.5 inch frog (I didn't want a frog, but the kids all thought it was cool), a ghost shrimp and a replacement Sunny (fancy guppy). Now, the aquarium is complete again.

Oh. Wait. Now we have room again. That didn't take long. Our ghost shrimp died. Poor little dude. Well, here's a picture of him when we got him home. He sure looks healthy.

Quack!