CAKE! Or, the Calm Before the Storm

We worked all day on Easter (counterintuitive, I know) but then went for cake at the Smiths'. I did make the Peeps cake, which some creative changes. Walgreen's only had yellow SUGAR FREE Peeps, which is just...wrong. So I used purple Peeps and pastel M & M's and made a spring flower cake. It was just as good and who cared anyway?

The kids just demolished their pieces. Emma shoved her Peep into her mouth while simultaneously reaching (and appropriating ) Helen's. She would have gotten Ellie's too if her arm would have been long enough.

There was chocolate everywhere and no amount of paper towels could control it. The kids' table was just wrecked. Sorry, Smiths. But man, that was good cake.

A Productive Day, or, When The Hell Can I Get These Kids Outside?

Snow, snow, snow. In the mornings now, when I go get the girls, I raise up the blind on the big window that faces our backyard and in unison the three of them yell, "SNOW!" Sad. They don't even know how long this winter has seemed. The big one played outside today while Lovey Love shoveled, but it was still too cold for the wee ones to venture out. Oh, I long for the days when we can all just tumble out in shorts snd cute tops and our ubiquitous LL Bean sandals http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?page=cool-wave-sandals&categoryId=53892&storeId=1&catalogId=1&langId=-1&parentCategory=503691&cat4=503463&shop_method=pp&feat=503691-tn and just go to town in the backyard. My tulips are poking their heads out, but who knows? They might think "the heck with this" and sleep the rest of the year.

On the upside, the family room remodel has been remarkably easy. Bill got the room sanded and all the outlets set. The can light holes are cut and the electricity is working. Painting begins tomorrow. Oh yes, on the holiest day of the Christian year? We stink this year as far as Jesus goes. I didn't even make the girls baskets. It just hasn't been on my radar. They won't be in therapy when they're 30. Not over this, anyway.

I cleaned out cookbooks today for garage sale, and ate Chinese food twice (check back with me in an hour, I'll be hungry again). I am making a delightful sunflower cake avec Peeps for dessert at the Smiths' tomorrow night. Got our first wedding invitation of the year--to the Grobles' daughter's bash in June. Things always seem to perk up when those start arriving. I wonder how many more to expect?

More updates, or, one crazy week

Helen has been walking around with my Le Creuset spatula, which was a gift from Bill's Uncle Rob. She talks into it like a microphone, but all she says is, Malcolm, Malcolm. Did Malcolm make her something with this when I was away? Is she thinking about Malcolm X's last speech in Harlem? I'm not sure what is going on here. That's Hey-yen for you.



Here's that floor I mentioned. Hardwood, installed, thank you very much. Why should we fool around with Pergo or some such thing and try to do it ourselves? The guys were here from 9 to 3 on Thursday and it was done. I even took the kids to music class and left them work. I figured, I know who they are and who they work for. Plus, if they want to rip me off, my kids and my wallet are with me. Anything else is a pain to replace, but not irreplaceable.

The family room is coming along, and Bill plans on having it finished by April 7. Why that date? My mother gets back from CA, and he doesn't want to hear her talk about my house being a mess. That's motivation for you.

News Bits, or, The Week that Was

1. The family room has a floor. Pics to come.
2. We dug out of snow on Sunday after a tough Saturday. The kids were a little nutsy and I counted the hours until bedtime (theirs AND mine).
3. We visited the Koops family http://musicplayzone.com/lisa.html and the Big One found Mr. Jed's guitar. 'Nuff said. She is a budding Maria from The Sound of Music.
4. I haven't done any work on my Master's class this week. I don't feel guilty, but I do have to work tomorrow. Typical Friday night....me, journal articles, and the APA manual.
5. Ellie slept in the Big Girl bed last night (and today for nap, and presumably now, although I suspect she's in the twins' crib, which must be rectified if that's the case). After a week, we'll move one of the twins into Ellie's old bed. Helen just needs more room, period. I ordered a toddler quilt that matches the other bedding and a bedrail for Ellie. Also the DVD of Once Upon A Potty. We're going on 2 months of sitting and no tinkle. Come on already.
6. I'm still at 0 points in my Dead Pool this year. http://home.columbus.rr.com/deadpool/ This is unusual for me. Last year I was the first one to score because I had Carlo Ponti.
7. I read The Grass is Singing for book club, and it reminded me of why I used to love the novel as an art form. If I get it back from Margaret www.margaretlannbell.com before the weekend ends, I'll read it again.

Lost, or, How Did He Get In There?

I have had my Fisher Price Sesame Street playhouse for about 33 years.

That's right. I got it when I was about three. And I never lost a piece. Not the Ernie, not the garbage truck, not the little TV or Mr. Hooper's lunch counter. I played with it nonstop until I was really about 10. I loved it that much. And my mother saved it and all the pieces for me. Now I let the girls play with it, but not all the furniture. They don't need that stuff yet. (The lunch counter and the garbage truck, yes. But Bert and Ernie's beds? Their kitchen table? No. In a Ziploc bag, hidden). The other day Big Bird was in his nest, and then he wasn't. I was sick. I looked under every radiator. Every piece of furniture. I went through the bookbox. The accessories box. Every cushion on every upholstered piece of furniture (thank you, Laubacher's http://laubacherupholstery.com/). Nothing. I thought, that's it. 33 years was a good run, but it was bound to happen. I looked sadly at BB's empty nest and thought, sorry, buddy.

I knew Emma had BB last, and then the next time I saw her she was playing with my old oven mitt. I kept saying, Emma, where is Big Bird? Inexplicably, she'd walk in the kitchen, but wouldn't point to anything. This morning I made the girls oatmeal and put my hand in the oven mitt to pour from the kettle. Who ended up in my palm? You guessed it. Emma was sitting in her chair eating berries. I said, "Emma, did you put Big Bird in this mitt?" She looked me square in the face and said, "Yeah."

Go Emma. Go Big Bird. Reunited again.

Gutted, or, a Morning with Donuts and Coffee

The family room has been a point of despair for about 5 years. We knew it needed redone, but other things--the garage, the kitchen, having 3 kids--always seemed to put it on the back burner. After I'd been cooped up in the room all last year with the kids and then looking at it again once the weather turned in the fall I just knew it had_to_go. We hadn't planned on starting the project this early, but a convergence of events made it a go. The furniture became available cheaper and faster than anticipated. The room needed a new heating source, which of course would be provided by Bill Hann at Verne & Ellsworth Hann (http://www.verneandellsworthhann.com/), and he was available this week. The flooring was available. The window and new patio door needed to be ordered toot sweet because of inevitable delay, so why not just trash the room now? Les Murphy, the Grobles, Thompson, and Bill went at it with vigor and had the room down by 2. Bill's on vacation this week, so hopefully a lot of progress will be made with the wiring, light installation, and drywall prep (proposed color: Luminary by Behr). I'm having a regular week with the kids, who are a little weirded out that all their toys have been reassigned, the TV is in front of the fireplace, and their favorite room just isn't there right now. However, since they live in an 80 year old house, and their father is who he is, they need to just learn to roll with big projects. I'm looking at that 2d floor bathroom and making plans for it already.