A Boy And His Cake

This evening Nathan got his real birthday cake for his extended family celebration. I made cupcakes for the party on Friday, but they didn't turn out all that well. Since they were to be decorated with white frosting and black music notes, I bought black decorating gel to make the music notes. Huge mistake. The gel ended up looking like strange blobs of goo sitting on top of the cupcakes and then the blobs started bleeding black into the surrounding frosting. As a music major they pretty much won't let you graduate unless you can make a passable music note and if this had been my final I definitely would have failed. It was not pretty. So I revised my previous plans and just tinted frosting black for Nathan's big cake. Things worked out much better in buttercream.


And Nathan was pleased.

He’s Much Taller In Person

A few years ago Aunt Connie invited us to go to the zoo and the outing just happened to be scheduled for Nathan’s birthday. We had such a good time that going to the zoo has become a birthday tradition for Nathan. This year when we broached the subject, Nathan decided that he would rather forgo the zoo this year in exchange for spending a Day Out With Thomas. Although Nathan has passed the stage of Thomas the Tank Engine, I think there were several factors that went into his decision. First, he was only two the last time we went and he doesn’t remember any of it. Second, he has always been fiercely protective of and overly indulgent with Matthew (When Matthew was newborn Nathan would tell people, “That’s my baby.”) and I think he knew it would make Matthew happy.

There was much excitement prior to the big day (Matthew found an ad for the event and kept it for over a month) and by the time we pulled into the parking lot Matthew was nearly bouncing off the walls. He caught his first glimpse of Thomas as we pulled in and nearly went ultrasonic. Standing in line for our wristbands didn’t seem to phase him, but when we tried to put his wristband on, Matthew freaked out. He did not want to put the thing on and I could not understand why. It was white and yellow (his favorite color), everyone else had theirs on, and it even had smiley faces on it. It took Kev’s mom reminding me that the last time Matthew had a wristband was when he had stitches back in October to bring the whole wristband-phobia into focus. So after much cooing, cajoling, and coddling we managed to get the wristband on and went off to see Thomas . . . which turned out to be a huge mistake.


Apparently Thomas is much bigger in person and any self respecting three year old knows it’s not wise to stand on the tracks when a train is coming. Once again, Grandma to the rescue. From higher up, Thomas was not nearly as intimidating.


When we asked Matthew about Thomas over dinner this evening, his response was, “He was HUGE!”

Things mellowed out after that. While Matthew didn’t want to stand on the tracks in front of Thomas, he was terribly excited to ride in Annie and Clarabel. Nathan wanted to ride in an open air car and Matthew wanted to ride inside so Kev went with Nathan and the rest of us climbed on together. Then Daniel went right and Matthew hung a left to ride in the car directly behind Thomas, so our group of seven ended up riding in three different cars. He absolutely loved riding the train. He was all smiles and sunshine the entire time.

Everywhere he looked there was a friend to be spotted. In addition to Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel, Matthew caught a glimpse of Harold the helicopter and he even spotted Mavis amidst the other engines parked on the tracks. But I think meeting Sir Topham Hat just might have been the highlight of his day.

There was some serious hero worship going on.


I just have to say that whoever arranges these events does everything they can to make it just like in the movies. Matthew could not have been happier.

Nathan had a grand time as well (I think half of his excitement was ferrying Matthew around to the various events of the day). From the looks of it, he’s enjoyed the view from his open air car.


Daniel was completely entranced by the real work of the steam engine occurring on the track next to Thomas.


He and Grandpa observed the train while Nathan and Matthew played miniature golf. Nathan probably would have played golf for hours if we had let him. Perhaps that needs to be one of our next outings.



We had a great day! And it seems that everyone wants to visit the railroad again, even if Thomas won’t be there.

Prime

When Nathan came home from school today with two hours before the party began, he brought four friends with him. One of the other moms called me to make sure I wasn’t going crazy. Who, me? Crazy? With seven small boys running around? No way! A few hours later the numbers expanded to sixteen for awhile so seven was no biggie!

On the other hand, seven is a biggie for Nathan considering that he is officially no longer a six year old. He chose music as his party theme and while music definitely makes for easy to plan party games and party favors, I’m hoping the other moms in the neighborhood don’t hate me this evening. There was a fifteen part kazoo chorus going on over here so hopefully one (or three . . . or four) won’t make them too crazy. Although, as a person whose life has a soundtrack (There is always music in my head and if I’m really lucky it stays there. Spontaneously bursting into song in the middle of Sunday School can be a bit embarrassing.), I imagine that the cacophony of kazoos, slide whistles, duck calls, drums, and other assorted music makers is what it will sound like inside my head when I go crazy.


Pretty much the only time the party was quiet was when all the musicians were noshing on pigs in a blanket, chips, and cake. And Nathan got more presents than he even knows what to do with, one of his favorites being his own fishing pole! Trust Uncle Jon to be able to spot a young outdoors man in the making!


After the madness retreated (at least when twelve of the fifteen young ‘uns went home), Nathan received his presents from our family.


This picture happened just about the time Nathan realized that he was receiving . . .


. . . this. He has had a hankering for a remote control car and after searching long and hard, Kev found one that fit the bill. I think his birthday was a success, at least we had a good (if overly noisy) time!

To Suck Or Not To Suck: That Is The Question

Our vacuum doesn’t suck. And while not sucking is an admirable quality in pretty much everything else, it turns the vacuum into a glorified coat rack. The vacuum used to suck, but it sucked a little too much and now there is a plastic squid stuck somewhere deep in its bowels. So while the sucking mechanism probably still works great, a squid can be a mighty obstruction. In addition, one of the axles got broken when we moved last year and although it still rolls, you have to push it mighty hard to keep it moving. The compartment that holds the bag is held on with a zip tie. And the crevice tool disappeared about two years ago when Matthew went through a phase where playing with the vacuum cleaner attachments was the height of entertainment. I was hoping I would find it when we moved last year, but had no luck. All these things lead to the inevitable conclusion that it is time for a new vacuum.

So I got online and started researching. I found a vacuum that will suit our needs, is definitely in our price range, and gets great user reviews. I got a rockin’ deal at Amazon and was super excited when the new vacuum arrived. About two days after we got it, Nathan was vacuuming and came to tell me something about lights on the vacuum. Now this is a basic model vacuum. It doesn’t have any lights anywhere. So I went to check it out and sure enough, lights. And not in a good way. Every time we turned the power switch to the off position, sparks were very clearly visible along the sides of the switch. Sparks in electronics are never good. So we packed it back up, initiated a return through Amazon, and dropped it off at the UPS Store.

Three days later we got our replacement vac from Amazon. Kev took it out of the box, turned it on, and guess what? Sparks! So in an attempt to get more info so I could decide whether or not to pursue this particular model or find a different one, I e-mailed Hoover through their website to see if the sparks are a known problem. Their response? “I don’t show a service center in your area. Please call for further assistance.” Wow. Didn’t even touch my actual question. So I got on their website, located a service center (Ummm, duh?), and called. The repairman told me that there has been a recall on the switch and that they would repair it under warranty. Good news, right? You’d think so, but when Kev picked it up after it was fixed, there were still sparks. But he was smart enough to check it out while he was still at the service center, so he just left it there and they said they would fix it . . . again.

After the second repair the sparks are mostly gone, only making a rare appearance. Kev can fix it if it comes right down to it, so we’ve decided to keep the vacuum. Hopefully it will continue to suck for a good long time without developing any unexpected fire starting skills.

Discriminating Palate

About a week ago Kev asked me if I had cut any of the tulips. I had not and recommended he ask the boys, thinking that they would need a talking to about the sanctity of my flower garden. The boys also responded in the negative so Kev went out to take a closer look and discovered deer prints in my flower bed. The critter nipped the buds off my tulips, but not all of them, just the yellow ones! I'm a bit peeved but since I can't do anything about it, I'll just sit around and sulk and hope Bambi and his pals don't decide to eat the apple trees.

Who Are The People In Your Neighborhood?

For Matthew, running errands is not a dull task. Rather, it is an opportunity to catch a glimpse of all the wonderful vehicles the world has to offer. Today was an exciting day because our grocery store trip put us in prime positions to view school buses, a garbage truck, and cement mixers-two of them right next to each other! But the most exciting thing by far was the motorcyclist who pulled up along side us. He was riding a black motorcycle and was dressed all in black including a black helmet with a very dark visor and black boots. Matthew noticed him and exclaimed, "Look! It's Batman!!!"

Now We’re Cooking With Gas!

You know that old adage that says a watched pot never boils? Let me assure you that it does . . . and quickly to!

When we bought our house just over a year ago, it came equipped with a black flat top range. Not having a lot of experience with flat tops, I didn’t have any particular objections to the range. However, over the course of the past year I have come to hate that range with a blinding, fiery passion. Sure, it was easy to clean when something spilled, but that in no way made up for the fact that it took 30-40 minutes for the oven to preheat. Unless I was cooking on high, when the burner cycled off the food in the pan would stop sizzling. The oven could be set to turn on by itself or off by itself, but not both which kind of defeats the purpose of timed baking. And I bottled applesauce on a propane camp stove in the garage last summer because the heat was not consistent enough to handle canning (and there is also the fact that the instruction manual warned that the glass of the range could not handle the weight of a canner). I could turn on the stove to heat, mix up the pancakes, and still have to wait ten minutes for the pan to be hot. And then the first pancake took ten minutes to cook. Boiling a big pot of water for spaghetti took forever!

So imagine my delight when part of this year’s tax return bought me a brand new gas range (and the gas line to make it usable). The oven preheats to 450 degrees in ten minutes flat (and has timer functions that will turn it both on and off). You can literally watch the water come to a boil when you put the burner on high. (In fact, I like to bring something to a boil and then watch the size of the bubbles decrease and increase as I turn the knob. It's fun!) Now I can mix up the pancakes, turn on the stove, and have the first pancakes cooking in about two minutes. I am having a severe case of culinary bliss!

In spite of my deep rooted dislike for the old stove, someone actually wanted it and it was sold and gone less than a day after I posted it in the online classified ads. Hopefully they aren’t as finicky as I am about their cooking apparatus. And the money from the old stove will pay to put in a sand box for Matthew. There’s no down side to that exchange!

He Must Have Been REALLY Tired!

Matthew is at that stage where he doesn't want to take a nap but still really needs one. He can stay awake through the entire afternoon if he is in constant motion, but if he stops long enough sleep is inevitable. Most days I just ignore the fight and throw him in his bed anyway. And within minutes all is peaceful, he gets the needed sleep and I get a bit of me time. Today we had a lot of outside jobs on our to-do list so Kev sent Matthew inside to go potty and get ready for a nap. When Kev came in a few minutes later, this is what he found:

Shiner

Several days ago Matthew whacked his face on the guardrail of his bed and gave himself a fabulous black eye. I've been trying to get a picture of it, but he really must not want it photographed for posterity because every time I get the camera out, he covers up his face and tells me no pictures. So today while he was talking to Aunt Connie on the phone, I snuck around the corner and snapped him before he had time to do the duck and cover. He did have time to pull a grumpy face and say, "No pictures, Mom!" And then he proceeded to tell Aunt Connie that he didn't want his picture taken. But just this one time, I managed to outsmart him!