Happy Birthday Baby Bear!

Over the weekend, W and I were lucky enough to celebrate Baby Bear's 2nd birthday!  We took that Chuck E. Cheese by storm (once we showed up at the right location).  The kids were not a fan of Chuck E, but everyone LOVED the homemade Monster Inc cupcakes and cake.  Thank you so much for having us!  I cannot believe how big our little men are getting, but it has been such a joy watching them grow and become friends!  Happy Birthday, Baby Bear!

Preschool Projects

Some of you may already know this, but painting, be it finger painting, pumpkin painting, watercolors, you name it, gives me quite serious anxiety.  Therefore, I am pretty sure preschool must seem like Christmas for W, what with it being highly encouraged and no one telling him to wash his brush or watch the table for paint splatter.  

It has been really exciting to see all the different things he is learning and what he enjoys about school.  These are just a few of the crafts that W has made so far in school.

Send A Hug!

This year for Valentine's Day we decided to go the homemade route.  It has been a little while since we have done a craft at home.  W has been making so many things at school that all of our crafts have been consolidated to coloring at the craft table.  

We cut off about 3 feet of paper from our paper roll and spread it out on the living room floor.  With his arms stretched out to his sides, I traced his outline (including the fingers individually) and then W got to decorate as he saw fit.  

Once he was done, I merely cut out the paper.  If you hold the paper up and wrap the arms around you, you have a mail delivered hug!  Perfect for long distance family or friends!  

This is a pretty simple project to do as long as you have the paper.  Our paper roll was purchased at Land of Nod.  Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day!  What are some of your favorite Valentine's Day crafts?

Baking Love

  I decided in the midst of all my "free time" that I would make cupcakes for all the teachers at Little School and a birthday cake for my dad.  It seemed like a great idea at Target as I tossed box after box of cake mix in the cart and rounded up a few canisters of frosting.  The cute cupcake liners were calling my name and I knew I wanted to do something for all of the teachers.  I think that sometimes we get so focused on teaching kids compassion or how to include others by making sure everyone gets a Valentine or birthday invites for the whole class, that we forget to take a moment and remember the people that help guide our children all day long.  The ones that chose to foster all these developing young minds.  This Valentine's Day my appreciation came in the form of 50 red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

  My trusted sidekick helped me pour all the ingredients in the bowl and watched carefully to make sure everything was thoroughly blended.  Then he took to the dishes.

  After a few dozen cupcakes, what is a few more, right?!  Although I was frosting cupcakes well until after midnight, I am glad that we were able to do a little something special.  

  Since I had the mix, I decided to make a cake for my dad's birthday.  Perhaps it is the sleep deprivation, but I completely forgot everything I knew about cakes and dumped a whole box worth of batter into an 8 inch round... Oops.  Much to my surprise, I did not end up burning the edges and bottom.  I was convinced I would have to throw the whole thing out, but apparently when you use applesauce instead of oil and sugar it keeps your cake quite moist... even after being forced to over bake it.  

Happy Birthday Dad!

  Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!  

A little less Instagram and a little more melt down

If you did not know better, the pictures above would paint a cute little portrayal of happy stay at home mom life and cheerful outings.  Do not get me wrong, the joy is genuine.  The lunch dates were delightful and delicious.  W had a blast and there were no tantrums.  So, what's the problem, right?

I think it is safe to say that I have yet to find a happy balance between full time student and full time mom.  Yes it is only a few weeks into the semester, but last week in particular, I just found myself feeling very overwhelmed and guilty.  I felt like I was being pulled in all sorts of different directions, between studying for exams and trying to find the time to keep up with other coursework, and spending time with W (not just physically but actually being present mind and body), and doing any of the other things that need to get done on a regular basis.  When the day came that we were out of clean underwear, I was surviving merely on caffeine, and my test did not go as well as I hoped, I had a bit of a melt down.

I just felt so guilty.  Guilty that I needed my parents to help me with W.  Guilty that I bought lunch instead of made it.  Guilty that I did not make it to the gym.  Guilty that I could not keep up with all my assigned reading.  Guilty I did not put away all the toys.  Guilty that laundry was overflowing.  Guilty, guilty, guilty... that I could not do everything, but not just that I was not completing all these tasks, but that I was not giving 100 percent to everything or anything for that matter.  I started thinking, "What am I doing?  I went back to school to give myself and Little Man a better life and now we do not even have clean underwear."  Then it hit me, I am wildly overreacting!

This is not the end of the world and all my worrying is for nothing.  W is unfazed and enjoying time with Grammy and Pop.  The gym will be there tomorrow, next week, or even next year if it gets that serious, and my Pinterest vision of motherhood is designed to make me feel like a failure if I am not making my own baby wipes, creating hand made Valentine's day crafts from construction paper and cotton balls, and cooking 7 course meals with organic ingredients in my crock pot - in ten minutes of prep or less.

Regardless of whatever misguided notion of supermom I had in my head, I am glad that it drove me to go out on some pretty great Mom and Son dates.  It was nice to focus fully on just one aspect of my life, and if I had to choose one part of my life to devote all of my time to, I could not choose a better one than my little man!

While at the bookstore, I took the opportunity to pick up a little book about motherhood.

It is a collection of essays/stories written by numerous different moms serving as a reminder that no one is perfect and there is no perfect way, or one "right" way for that matter, to be a mom.

Cocktails and Cupcakes

I had the privilege this weekend to take a cupcake decorating class.  I was really excited to learn a few tricks since I have been on a Pinterest baking mission for a little while now and frosting or decorating is really where I have no clue what I am doing.  Not only was I excited at the thought of mastering cupcake art (and then getting to keep the ones I decorated), but my night out came with free cocktails, and the instructor just so happened to be, my oh so talented, girlfriend who makes all of my little man's birthday cakes.    

We started with a little tutorial on the different types of designs you can make and what tools are needed to craft the desired effect.  I personally enjoyed the star tip.  (It is quite difficult to make an ugly cupcake and even if you do, then you have a perfect opportunity to go buck wild with sprinkles).  I will say that the smooth iced cupcakes did get easier the more the I practiced.

We practiced a few different flowers, each deceivingly difficult in their own way, but just as with anything practice makes perfect.  If I ever find myself with some free time and a craving for butter cream I will practice some more hydrangeas.

I am not sure if it was all the flowers, the pretty pastels, the glass of wine, or just wishful thinking, but it was beginning to feel like spring may be nearing while decorating all my cupcakes.  The feeling quickly left after I stepped outside and into about a foot of snow.

This one is my favorite!

I think the combination of the rose and the fondant petals.  

It just looks so classy I do not want to eat it.

I would say the evening was a success.  If I am feeling really ambitious I will make a batch of cupcakes with all my new skills for the upcoming preschool Valentine's Day parties.  Thanks again Robbyn for the opportunity!  Check out other classes at Creative Cakes or just stop in for a delicious treat!

What do you mean school is not cancelled?

One of the major perks of being a student: Snow Days!  I personally would not know, as my teachers believe in preparing us for the real world (thanks), but W has had a few.  I would love to say that we have taken this opportunity to build a snow fort, bake delicious treats, or complete one of the oh so many toddler friendly Pinterest crafts, but alas we have not.

We have, however, listened to the Frozen soundtrack on repeat and devoured a lot of chicken noodle soup.  So that is the close, right?!

Hope everyone is staying warm!

More to come soon, perhaps during spring thaw, or even after my first round of exams when I am back to sleeping at night instead of studying.


After publishing this post, my class was cancelled due to bad weather... FINALLY!