Look Who's THREE! {Lots of Pics - Sorry!}

So, Little Guy turned 3 last week. We had a small nuclear family thing on the special day. First thing in the morning, he awoke to the family's special birthday song - The Beatles' "Birthday". Then, after a special birthday breakfast of oatmeal in which he was allowed to sprinkle a crumbled-up Oreo, we made him a special birthday crown. Little Guy and I took the bus to Kroger where he got to pick out a tiny cake from the bakery and then he got to choose which frozen pizza he'd like for dinner. Well, he chose the cake, then saw the cupcakes (he's a cupcake-lover), so I ended up getting him a single one just for his special birthday cake. He picked out a yummy white special birthday pizza with mushrooms, spinach & artichokes on it! He got to pick out a special birthday Hot Wheels car (Hey - they're $1!) The cashier gave him a special birthday Cars 2 ring, then she gave him another because he said "Thank You" without any prompting. The bus driver let him honk the bus's horn as a special birthday treat. A police officer sitting in his car turned on the lights and sirens for a special birthday surprise for Little Guy as we walked past. It was very special birthday!

And now you know our stance on medical marijuana...

 (More about blue dye in an upcoming post.)

 On Friday, Little Guy received his special birthday package in the mail from Gammy. She always decorates the outside of the box with really neat stickers and writes all over it. My oldest said, "Gammy boxes are always the best! You always get a LOT of presents and you never, ever know what is going to be inside." He was right - Little Guy got a ton of new puzzles (he's up to 100-piece ones now!), lots of new Thomas the Train PJ's, paints, a card game... and more!



On Saturday, my dad stopped by with MORE special birthday gifts in the afternoon! Less than a week after Halloween, Little Guy received an entire bag of Smarties. (My dad told him they'd make him smarter and he replied with, "No, if you eat too much candy you are not smart!" LOL) All of the pics of my dad came out pretty badly, so I am not going to post them. Hubby was in charge of taking pics and his shaky hands and the small room made for a pretty bad set-up.

 On Saturday, the neighborhood kids came over for cake. It always takes me twice as long as I figure to decorate a cake. Little Guy wanted to have a special birthday Thomas the Train cake (of course) and he got one. I got rushed at the end because I ran out of time, so it didn't turn out quite as I wanted. I also pulled out a couple more presents from the stash I have been saving up since early summer...

On Sunday, we had planned a big party for everyone. You see, Hubby's son's birthday is in September, hubby's birthday is in October and so are both of his daughters' birthdays. Then, of course, there's Little Guy. And, since my oldest didn't get a proper birthday party, we included him on the receiving-end of the party. I made another cake and decorated it on Sunday morning (we're up to cake #3, now!) I wrapped presents, then we cleaned. We had another party. This time, I gave Little Guy the last of his presents. Lucky for you, we forgot all about taking pictures. Hubby's daughters took some, so we'll have those.

WAY too much sugary cake!!!

All-in-all, Little Guy had three birthday parties, three birthday cakes, five chances to open gifts, and lots of extras. When you ask him how old he is, he'll proudly tell you "I'm Number One!" Oh, well! LOL

Finally Caved and Made Cake Ball Thingies

A few weeks ago, Little Guy  got a monkey on his back. We were at the farmer's market, taking in the sights of all of the healthy fresh produced heaped high on all of the vendors' tables. He's point to something and I'd tell him what it was. Sometimes, he was asked to help me pick out which bunch of carrots or basket of apples we should get. At one point, he ran ahead of me as I was paying for eggs. I caught up with him to find him chewing on something. Oh no! What is he eating and how much do I owe?

There were two very sweet-looking ladies behind the table he had stopped in front of. One spoke up, "Oh, it's OK. He's just tasting a sample of our cake balls." As he finished his mouthful, he went in for seconds. The other "sweet" lady took the plate from the table and told him that his Mommy would have to buy some cake balls for him if he wanted more. You can imagine the carnage that came after I found that one dozen quarter-size cake balls would set me back FOUR DOLLARS! I just don't have that kind of money, not even for a splurge. We left with me hauling two very heavy bags of produce on one shoulder and a kicking and screaming 30 lb. kid under one arm. (I did hear someone mention how mean it was of those ladies to do that to me and Little Guy. Yeah!)

Well, he's been talking about those things ever since that day. Often, upon waking up in the morning, presumably from a dream, demanding I give him the cake balls that he knows I have hidden somewhere in the kitchen. When I tell him (repeatedly) that there are none, we end up in the middle of a first-thing-in-the-morning, before mommy has her coffee, full-on tantrum. So I decided that since hubby's birthday was on Monday and we needed to make a cake anyway, I'd so a single layer for him and we'd use the other layer to try our hand at making these cake thingies.

I checked out a few posts from other bloggers to see how the whole process worked. I basically found the following: 1) They're super-easy to make. 2) You basically crumble the cake, mix with frosting, roll into balls, then dip them into melted baking chips. EASY!!! I figured there must be a catch. I asked on my Facebook page for tips from those who
've already done these things and Lisa, Baking Momma of Two, was the only one to speak up. She directed me to a post she had written when she decided to make (really cute) Spring Chick Cake Pops. The basic directions on her post were the same as I wrote above. But she also described some of the problems she encountered and how she got around it (or would now that she knows better.) Things like the dipped cake balls looking pretty ugly (a second coat fixes this!) You don't want to buy the "super moist" cake mix (this tip had me over-bake the cake a little to get rid of the extra moisture.) She mentioned how messy making the cake into crumbs was, so I was able to elicit the help of Little Guy (payment came in the form of not complaining when he to big bites out of the cake!) Oh - here's a good one that I'd probably have tried if she hadn't done so first: Don't attempt to use plastic candy molds to make shaped cake. Don't try to get too fancy with the decorating - it's harder than you think. Apparently, you need to work fast to get all of the decorations on before the melted baking chips harden. (Lisa made her own mini baking chips in the colors she needed! I'd have probably left the chicks beak-less!) And, finally, it take a LOT of time to make these things. That is one that I just didn't believe enough - I put the finishing touches on mine at 10:20pm - three hours after I started dipping them into melted chocolate. This does not account for the time spent making the cake, making crumbs & icing, and rolling it into balls.

So, here's my journey in pictures. I really love how they turned out. These won't be made on a regular basis (cupcakes are SO MUCH EASIER!), but they're great for special occasions. Oh, and the $4 price tag was nuts - even with the time I put in on these, there's no way that each one is worth $0.33 each!

Making Crumbs

Over-baked Cake

Naked Balls (!)

Helping Clean the Icing Bowl

UGLY! I began to despair at this moment. It was my first layer.

Looking better after the butterscotch layer went on!

Yes! The dark chocolate covered up all of the mistakes!

We used leftover melted chips to decorate Hubby's cake. (Like my last-minute candle fix?!)

Little Guy knows that, now that we've sung "Happy Birthday", he can sample some cake balls!!!

Have you made these things? How did they turn out? Have any tips to add for next time? Little Guy's birthday is just 2 weeks away and I'm going to make more, so any help would be welcome!

Add A Special Touch to Your Children's Homemade Gifts & More! {AmyAdele.com}

We are constantly working on one project or another. On those days when I just don't have the "umph" in me to actively participate in one of the projects, or when Little Guy is in a "I do myself! Mommy no helping me!!!" kind of mood, I hand over some glue and a variety of stuff from our crafts box(es), set him up in his high chair, and put a piece of paper down in front of him. While I lazily sip my coffee and leaf through a magazine, he goes nuts.

:

TIP: Wash out a paint applicator (like those you get glitter paints in) and save it for gluing time. Lots less wasted glue and it's easier for little hands to squeeze the glue right where they want it!

For a while, I ended up with a pile of "glue project" pieces of art. What the heck do you do with them??? I couldn't throw them away. Little Guy puts so much concentration and time into them, and he's so very proud of each one, that I just can't. Our walls are already covered with all kids of kids' art, so there's really no more room there.

I found the perfect solution: Grandmas!!!

Yep - we pop artwork into envelopes once or twice a month and take a little walk down to the post office. It gets the artwork to someone who will appreciate it. Little Guy loves getting "thank you" calls from his grandmas and he especially enjoys all of the praise (this kid's ego is not something I worry about!) 

One problem we've had with this is Little Guy's inability to sign his name. He sees his brother's signature on the drawings that he adds to our envelopes and wants to be able to do the same. I tried just letting him "sign" his work, but he can see that what he's doing has nothing to do with writing words. If I attempt to sign his name for him, he just loses it (right back to the "I do it myself!" thing.) When I saw AmyAdele.com's fun labels and stickers, I knew we had to have some. 

Little Guy loves stickers and when I told him that these were special stickers that he could use to "sign his name" with, he was all for it. We made it serious business, the oldest and I, when we showed him where his "signature" should go. My oldest pulled out some of his drawings and showed him how he always signed at the bottom, away from the drawing so nothing would get covered up. Now he's a happy camper and even prouder that HE has a signature on his artwork, just like "Brubber".

You really should consider getting some of these labels if your kids like to mail out pictures to friends or relatives or, as in out situation, they really want a special way to show that "I made this!" I chose the Arts & Crafts Label for Little Guy's projects. Check it out:

In fact, there are a ton of products that you can buy with the Arts and Crafts Design. I'd love to have a crafting birthday party for Little Guy's 3rd birthday in November. I could get some of AmyAdele.com's Arts and Crafts Invitations completely personalized with what I want to say. Maybe I could get Little Guy his own Arts and Crafts T-shirt with something like "Happy 3rd Birthday!" on it? Oh, and I wouldn't want to forget to include an Arts and Crafts Photo Invitation. Since you can personalize anything to say whatever you want, I'd love to use a photo of Little Guy at his party and use the personalization to turn it into a "thank you" note.

Now, there are a ton of places where you can buy personalized stationery, invitations, labels & stickers, calling cards, announcements, cards, and children's clothing. But I choose AmyAdele.com because of the eco-friendly steps the company when creating and shipping their products. First of all, the items from AmyAdele.com are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper - that's ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. I've seen other companies boast of using post-consumer recycled paper, but if you look into it, you'll often find that the percentages are pretty low - usually around 10% to 25%. 


 So, the next time that you are looking for labels, invitations, stationery, T-shirts, announcements.... anything like this, go check out AmyAdele.com first. Amy's artwork makes these items extra-special and the prices won't gouge your pocketbook!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

I CERTAINLY Wasn't Expecting This!

I love having books for my kids. I love that, by having children's books around, my kids will pick them up and read them - just because. I don't have to suggest it or make sure they read for 20 minutes every day (or whatever the newest "reading prescription" length of time is nowadays.) I love that my oldest will happen upon a new storybook, or one of his old favorites, and seek out Little Guy so they can lay in bed and read together.

 

Unfortunately, I don't have the money to go buying up every neat book I hear about. I sometimes can find a good one at a yard sale or thrift store but, more times than not, there are pages missing or colored on. We hit the library pretty regularly and Little Guy's eyes light up as he darts among the stacks, bringing me every book that happens to catch his eye to take home. This is how I choose books at the library, too. It's hit-or-miss, but it's also an adventure - you never know what you're going to get! When it's time to take the books back, he carefully checks the spines to make sure the "library sticker" is on them and we don't accidentally take one of his precious books to the library.

I recently had the pleasure to read Interview with Ella Johnson, Owner of Memorable Children's Books & Gifts on Melange Of Culture's Blog. Here are some things I learned from the interview:

• She's lived in a number of places all over the world. 
• She has studied Fine Arts and Education.
• She taught Fine Arts, from preschool all the way up to secondary school.
• She worked as a civil servant for The Queen of England (!)
• When she came to the US, she went a year without finding a job. 
• She chose to start her own business, Memorable Children's Books & Gifts (go on, check it out!)

Now, I knew from her "About Me" section that Ella does a lot of giving. She gives away school supplies each year to children in August at a local Chick-Fil-A where she sells books on Family Night - 20 bags' worth last year! She also has a Back to School giveaway (ends Aug. 15, 2 winners, US) on her blog right now - one VERY luck winner is going to get the mother-lode of school supplies. Yeah, I've got my fingers AND my toes crossed. Please pick my entry, Random.org!!! Oh, and I don't want to forget to tell you about her Birthday Library Giveaway. Every year, from the ages of 2 through 5, registered children will receive a book for their birthday from Ella. Since this is being funded by Ella, along with a few donations from publishers and authors, the first year of the program has (had?) space for four children per birthday month (WOW - that's 48 free books! No, I didn't use my fingers...)

If you're a fan of my Facebook page (hey, gotta get those likes in there however I can!), you'll have noticed that I often share giveaways that other bloggers are hosting. In addition to all of the amazing free giveaways above, Ella also gives away children's books that she's reviewed to her readers. I'm puzzled by why she doesn't have a ton of entries. I've been lucky enough to have won quite a few of the giveaways on Memorable Children's Books' blog and would love to make more people aware of this great blog. (Look at me, cutting my odds of winning, sheesh!)

And, because I share these giveaways so often, guess what? I was surprised over the weekend with this:

Alicia McCrenshaw – 

Best Supporter of the Month

She is a lover of nature

and science

It's right there on her sidebar, for all to see! Go over and look at it, this really means a lot to me. For all that she does for others, here she is giving ME a "Good Job" for merely sharing her giveaways with others. My favorite part is her description of me - no one has ever said it about me before. I never really thought about it, but nature and science really are two of my passions. 

So, thank you, Ella. For the giveaways, for helping parents and children learn how important reading is, and for the surprising and wonderful honor of being named your Best Supporter of the Month!

**Right now, Ella is giving away a 4-pack of books for the Summer Giveaway Hop. It ends Aug. 7 and is open to US.

**Oh, and I didn't get to mention another thing I love about her blog - she posts many author interviews. I like getting to know the writers of the books she reviews and their motivations for their works. She even has a Meet the Author Facebook page!

Need to Show Off!

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I just wanted to show off my cake decorating skills. For years, I've been decorating cakes with just one piping tip and one star tip. My mom gave me a Wilton Professional Decorating Set for Christmas and this was the first time I've been able to use it.

I really wanted to do a Yellow Submarine-themed cake. But, since it was my son's birthday, he got to choose. I know it looks pirate-y, but that wasn't the plan. I was supposed to leave off the crossbones and add "Lucky" above the skull. He also wanted fire. I ran out of time, so this is what we ended up with. Still pretty cool, right?

I've got to learn how to take pictures indoors with that camera!

After my son added his bit of creativity.

What do you think? Do you like to decorate cakes, cookies, or cupcakes? Do you have a favorite decorating glory that you'll always remember?

My Son's Favorite Birthday Present!

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So, what do you get for your son's 13th birthday? He claims he's too old for toys (though he secretly pulls out his Legos often.) His interestes have turned to the very expensive - video games, expensive art supplies, clothes that cost so much they ought to be made out of gold...

I found the solution!!!

I was so very lucky to have won a giveaway at The Crafty Nest last month. It was for a Personalized Parcel. "What's this?" you ask... It's an amazing service offered by Dez Stephens. What happens is this: You contact Dez and tell her about the person you'd like to surprise with a parcel. She will ask a few questions, then go out and buy lots of little things to pack into a box for that special person. She will mail it to them with a card or message from you. You can even request that the parcel arrive on a particular date! For a list of some items that she may include, go here.

When I won, Dez contacted me right away and asked who I'd like to send the parcel to and if it was for a special occasion - I chose my son's 13th birthday. I told her some of his likes and interests and that was it. A few days later, she emailed me a photo of the gifts she had acquired for him: 

Included: Manga drawing pad, drawing pencils & art eraser, Axe body wash, Cheetos, ninja calendar.

This wasn't all she included, it was just a start. She also tucked in a few other things that were surprises to me, too! 

When my son got home from school on Friday (his birthday), he was greeted by the package on the porch. After stripping off his shirt (shirtless in a new phase for him), he ripped into the mysterious box.

He was so excited - Every present was wrapped in tissue paper. Just when he thought he had found all of the gifts, another would appear!

 He was so happy with his Personalized Parcel! I will definitely keep Dez in mind the next time I need a gift and either don't have the time to shop around or cannot think of what to give. She's got the knack for getting those special people in your life the right things!

Have someone in your life that you need to buy a unique gift for, but just can't think of anything? Maybe a baby shower, graduation, Mother's Day, or "just because"? You can contact Dez through her Web site Personalized Parcels, Facebook , and Twitter.

*** This is NOT a sponsored post. I received my Parcel because I won a giveaway. 

I am posting about it because I think this is an awesome service that my readers might enjoy trying out.***