Friday, August 31, 2012

7 Quick Takes (Volume 199)


1) It was fun to watch Ladies Man at his first football game conducting the band.
How can I get him to do that to me at home?

Hey, a woman can dream, can't she?

Nice work, Ladies Man. Proud of you!

2) We had a lovely family dinner celebrating Miss Innocent One's birthday on Monday night. I'm not sure what it is about our family dynamics, but something happens when we're all together. Weird things come out of our mouths. I don't even remember what Ladies Man was talking about but at one point we got this gem.

Ladies Man: Hate the sin not the sinner. Got me through preschool.

The waiters came and sang happy birthday in traditional embarrassing fashion. Afterwards they dumped a bunch of suckers next to Miss Innocent One. Immediately the other kids started grabbing and every single one of us slipped into our predictable mode of behavior.

Me (protecting Perfect Baby Angel Child): You guys, those are hers. Stop taking them all.

Ladies Man (not giving a flip): She's not going to eat them all.

Drama Queen (thinking it's time for Miss Innocent One to buck up already): She doesn't care.

Miss Innocent One shrugged, not wanting to say no and come across as a little kid, but secretly wanting to keep every last sucker to give to friends after school the next day.

Kevin (tiring of Ladies Man and Drama Queen's bullying tactics and using his own drama for effect): Okay. Put DOWN the lollipop.

Meanwhile Drummer Boy laughs, says nothing and tweets the entire scene.

Classic.

3) I told you about our recent addiction to Cake Boss. I had a horrible thought last weekend while thinking about Miss Innocent One's birthday. How in the world could I make a birthday cake that wouldn't look completely stupid after all the amazing things we've seen on that show?! My standard confetti cake or angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream wasn't going to cut it anymore.

And I wasn't just putting pressure on myself like I normally do. Miss Innocent One started pointing out fondant recipes she found on Pinterest. She had expectations!

Call me inspired, stupid or just plain lucky, but I gave it a shot and I don't think it turned out too bad.
The zebra pattern continued INSIDE the cake as well.
Why does that not look as appetizing now as it did then? Hmmm. Anyway, the most important thing is she loved it.
Whew. Now I'm afraid the cake bar has risen. Kevin's birthday is coming up in a few weeks and he teased me about a piano cake. Hello, people! I am an ordinary woman without the handy gadgets and STAFF of the cake boss.

Just what I need. More pressure. Maybe I should've totally flopped it so no one would expect anything from me.

4) I thought college was supposed to be tough. Drama Queen and Ladies Man's girlfriend spent an evening having a "coloring book date." I'm all for healthy ways of stress relief, but these two have me worried. Are the concerns about society being dumbed down valid?

5) Another fun activity we did last weekend was Paint Yourself Silly. The store is full of unfinished pottery. You pick out a piece, paint it and they put it in the kiln. Super, super fun thing to do. I highly recommend it.

Here's what our creations looked like in progress. Miss Innocent One is very serious.
These two? Not so much.

I'll update you next week on how they looked after the firing process. We pick them up tomorrow.

6) It's funny how a few years can make a huge difference with a child. Ten years ago we were literally DRAGGING and I mean LITERALLY DRAGGING Ladies Man to school. We had tons of stressful times chasing him around the house, in the driveway, down the alley. We're talking gripping door jams, jumping out of moving vehicles, calling the principal to meet us at the car . . . horrible, HORRIBLE scenes.

Ten years later, he's fighting me about having to eat breakfast and leaving on his own for school at 7:AM. As he leaves I offer, "Bye. Have a good day."

He smiles and says, "Yep. It should be."

And he was off. Just like that. No hiding, no stomping, no crying, no loud proclamations of "I'm NOT going to school!" Just a smile and confidence. Kinda made all those horrific mornings ten years ago worth it, you know? One parenting decision made right. Aaaaaahhhhhh. Let's savor this moment.

7) We're headed north tomorrow to attend our niece's NEBRASKA wedding reception (you'll remember our trip to Texas for the wedding), then off to the Husker game to catch our kiddos in action on the drum line. And yes, I'm anticipating more tears. I am human, you know.

That's all I got this fine Friday, folks. Catch more Quick Takes at Conversion Diary.

3 comments:

Kathleen Basi said...

#6 gives me such hope. To know that there were behaviors and hair-pulling frustration in your terrific family lets me know it may all turn out okay!

That cake is AWESOME.

Tami said...

There were TONS of them, Kathleen! God is good. We just have to endure and trust He's got a plan. And not to burst your bubble, but I STILL have to tell myself that!

Have a great weekend, friend!

becky aka theRAV said...

So enjoyed your post. I can relate to the band stuff. Loved the cake. So pretty. I usually have beginner's luck and the next one is terrible.