A girl turns 6

The day ended?  started? at about 1 am, when I inverted cake 2 of 2 out of the batter bowl to cool on the counter.  I made sure dog and cat were accounted for and chauffeured them to our bedroom lest a cake disappear over night.  Then I got up a few hours later, at about 7am, to get this cake decorated!

This cake is a cinch to prepare.  The CAKE part.  I used my tempered glass Pampered Chef batter bowl, and used a Pampered Chef doll cake recipe to make the cakes.  (you have to make two).

Assembling the damn thing is a totally different ballgame.  First of all, there was a huge hollow inside both cakes.  While this may be a good thing for shoving a Barbie into the cake, it does not bode well for stability.  By slicing horizontally through both cakes, I was able to build it up high enough, vertically, to accommodate Barbie's ridiculously long, out-of-proportion-don't-get-me-started legs.  It took an enormous amount of frosting to get all of the layers stacked, but in the end it turned out pretty well.  I wrapped Barbie's torso with some tulle and pinned it in the back,  and then I wrapped her legs in plastic wrap so that she wouldn't get ruined by the cake and frosting.  Then I made several cuts (holding the knife vertically) into the cake and then jammed her in there.  That was a mistake.  Her out-of-proportion-don't-get-me-started hips broke apart the top layer.  So I had to jam left-over pieces of cake into the cracks and smother the whole thing with frosting to cover up the mess.  And then cover that with a ton of fabric flowers.  Because nothing hides cake mistakes better than fabric flowers.  Especially when you suck at icing.

My friend Cheryl loaned me her decorating cake pedestal, and that was a life-saver.  I'm gonna get me one of those.  I like how the hem turned out - those large candy pearl nonpareils gave it a nice touch. I'm kind of wishing I'd done the whole cake that way, but I was out of time.  And also, since I have never made a doll cake before, I think this qualifies as a 40 Things ...  This is #3 on the list of official accomplishments.  I had better get crackin'!!   So what did the birthday girl think of her cake?   Rylan 'liked' it, but confessed that the picture she had of the cake in her head was different.  This one wasn't 'purple enough'.  whatever

This was Rylan's first 'friend' party.  We chose to do a gymnastics party at a local gym.  Rylan and Jordan took a homeschool gymnastics class here last year, and Rylan has been asking repeatedly when she can go back.  So she was excited to hear that we would have her party there.  Rylan invited her Daisy troop pals, and Jordan was able to invite along a friend as well.

Dean was on the floor taking pictures (only one parent is allowed to do so, so I stayed up in the party room and finished decorating and gabbed with the other moms), so he took lots of video, and like, two pictures.  So here is one of them.  Jordan is hopping along a trampoline with Colin.  The group got one hour of gym time, and Colin ran and jumped for the entire time.  Owen was finally ready to join the group in the last ten minutes of their time slot.  Before that he stayed upstairs with me, watching the crowd below and playing with the balloons.  He often hangs back like that. 

Then the girls came up to the party room and we did cake, lemonade and presents.  (I'd show these pictures - but getting iPhone pictures to show up on Blogger never works.  You companies are lame -  and I am so frustrated that I can't figure this issue out...)

So here is finished version of the cake - taken earlier in the day.  The candles will go in the icing swirls in front.

 

 

Sorry for the fuzziness of the photo, but Rylan is holding up a skirt.  The little girl who gave it to her is standing behind Rylan, grinning.  She MADE the skirt. She sewed it herself!  I just can't get over how awesome that is!!!

Rylan had a great time and really enjoyed doing gymnastics with all of her friends.  I was very happy with the way the party turned out, and it fit all of my criteria...

1.  Not at my house

2.  I did not have to cook.  (Cake doesn't count)

3.  It was long enough to get the fun accomplished, but not overly long where bickering can begin

We finished out the day with a dinner at home.  Rylan had asked for steak and potatoes for dinner.  We settled on beer butt chicken (I'll have to explain that some time).  I stupidly tried out a new roasting method (roast at 450F for thirty minutes and then turn the oven off and let it sit for another 30 minutes.)  This was from America's Test Kitchen of all places.  It was an epic fail.   Despite taking the temp and returning it to the oven twice for 25 min. stints, the chicken failed to cook through.  We ended up throwing it out.  We made a meal out of mashed potatoes and gravy, grandma's rolls and corn.  And cake.  Which, after the day was done, Rylan never did have a piece of.  Not even a taste.  Even though it was offered multiple times.  ?? 

Next year?  Cupcakes.

A boy turns 12

Jordan turned 12 on the 9th - just getting around to posting about it!  His birthday fell midweek - so the actual day wasn't too eventful.  There was a fieldtrip scheduled that day for our homeschooling group to tour the local powerplant, so Jordan went with my mom on the tour.  (little ones are not allowed, for safety reasons).  Rawhide is located about 25 miles north of where we live, so it was a nice outing for Jordan and my mom.

I would like to take this moment to share some serious frustration with technology, in general.  The photo of Jordan in a hard had that was supposed to be pictured above was nice.  I wish you could see it.  My mom took it with her iPhone.  When she sent it to me, of course I couldn't paste it in because the picture data is all wonky and it won't copy over.  (don't even get me started on my frustrations with all things Apple)  So I had her send me a jpeg and see if we could do it that way.  And this is what we get.  A fuzzy photo, that you can't even see when I look at the preview of the post.  I hate my techno illteracy.  And the fact that my husband is on a campout this weekend, and is not around to help me fix it.   I'm not happy with Google, Blogger or Yahoo either.  Bleh.

Back to the birthday...

My dad came over later in the afternoon to deliver  1 1/2 yards of garden soil.  (Thanks dad!!)  After many wheelbarrow trips and dirt baths, we finally unloaded the trailer and my dad took the kids for a ride down the street and back.

We cleaned up, I frosted the cake, and we headed out to dinner at Jordan's favorite restaurant: Red Lobster.  (Well, one of two.  He also loves the Hibachi Japanese Steak House, but we did that last year).  We had a great dinner then it was on to cake and presents.  The cake (pictured above) is called Chocolate Blackout Cake.  I got the recipe from Cook's Country, when I saw them feature this cake one day a few years ago.  You need to be a member to see the recipe, but there are several versions all over the place on the internet.  I have the Cook's Country version here... with commentary!

Chocolate Blackout Cake
From the episode: Forgotten Cakes

Serves 10 to 12.

Be sure to give the pudding and the cake enough time to cool or you'll end up with runny pudding and gummy cake.

Ingredients :

Pudding (frosting)
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup whole milk
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate , chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cake
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), plus extra for greasing pans
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour , plus extra for dusting pans
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Table salt
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 cup strong black coffee (room temp)
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions :

This is a relatively easy recipe to pull together.  I've made about five cakes now, and I've always had good, consistant results.  I'm a terrible baker, and I can't even mess up this recipe!

1. For the pudding: Whisk sugar, cornstarch, salt, half-and-half, and milk in large saucepan. Set pan over medium heat. Add chocolate and whisk constantly until chocolate melts and mixture begins to bubble and thicken, 6 to 8 minutes. (Be patient and KEEP STIRRING.  It will look all wrong, but as soon as it bubbles the chocolate will melt and the cornstarch will do it's job and thicken it right up.  You will feel the drag on the whisk pretty quickly as it thickens).  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. At this point serve yourself a small bowl of warm pudding because it's just awesome. You deserve it.  You worked hard doing all that whisking! Transfer pudding to large bowl, and place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours or up to 1 day.

2. For the cake layers: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour two 8-inch cake pans. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl.

3. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in cocoa and cook until fragrant (this is called 'blooming'), about 1 minute. Off heat, whisk in coffee, buttermilk, and sugars until dissolved. Whisk in eggs and vanilla, then slowly whisk in flour mixture.

4. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool layers in pans 15 minutes, then invert onto wire rack. Cool to room temperature, at least 1 hour.

Yep - you guessed it.  This recipe is all about whisking.

5. To assemble an authentic Blackout cake you do this: Cut each cake in half horizontally. Crumble one cake layer into medium crumbs and set aside. Place one cake layer on serving platter or cardboard round. Spread 1 cup pudding over cake layer and top with another layer. Repeat with 1 cup pudding and last cake layer. Spread remaining pudding evenly over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle cake crumbs evenly over top and sides of cake, pressing lightly to adhere crumbs. Serve and refrigerate any leftovers.

This is just too complicated for me.  I just did a two layer cake (pudding in between) and frosted the whole thing with the pudding - leaving about a cup leftover - which makes awesome pudding just by itself!  I then used a tub of chocolate frosting and piped on some decorations.  The level of fuss you want to deal with is up to you.  Yes it is rich.  It makes your head swim with its chocolately goodness.  That is why I make this cake only once a year.  It is all our tastebuds can handle.  And, it is the birthday boy's favorite.  :)

This is one of the gifts Jordan recieved for his birthday.  In fact, it was the only thing he asked for.  (A gift from his Gma Pat and Papa Van).  Well, this and money of course...  This is the first birthday that Jordan did not put in a request for Lego's.  Strange.  But I think it was a wonderful choice!  We found it here, when we were poking around for a rock-polishing kit.  I love that he is exploring his interests.  He put in a request for the Geology Merit Badge (one of three requests) during scout summer camp next month.  I hope he gets the chance to study it.   It also gives me a good jumping off point for the direction our science studies will go, once he gets back from his various travels this summer.

It was a good day.  I can't believe this boy is twelve.

Constantinople. It's fun to say. Just hard to read.

I mentally beat myself up on just about a daily basis when it comes to homeschooling.  Even though my tragic public school teaching days are far behind me, the fear of failure is never far from my thoughts.  I have fought this emotional battle for years.  I shared my fears with friend and fellow homeschooling momma Deanna a couple of years ago.  She commiserated with me and then shared one of the most inspiring and poignant pieces of advice when it comes to homeschooling:

Even on the worst of homeschooling days, never forget that it was YOU, and YOU ALONE, that taught your child to read.  The most important gift you can ever bestow upon your child is the gift of literacy.  A proficient reader can do anything they set their mind to - and YOU made that happen.

Well.  I just turned out my first reader.  I can't take credit for Jordan since he was in public school for kindergarten and first grade, but I will take credit for Rylan.  But it just feels wrong to say that.  Rylan did all the work.  She rarely complains (unless it is late in the afternoon and she is 'done' with schoolwork).  She worked through the workbooks, the readers, the phonics videos, and the best reading program in the world: Reading Eggs.  Things just started to click in the last several weeks, and lo' and behold we have a reader!

The sad thing is that I didn't even know she could do it.  I came into Rylan and Colin's room to change Colin into his pj's last night, and there was Rylan, reading Hop on Pop, out loud, to herself.  And she was really reading it.  No mistakes.  I think I have only read this book to her maybe...once?  And not in the past several months, either.  We have a bajillion books at home, and when you couple that with a bajillion library books, it is hard to read something more than once.

I was just absolutely astonished.  I didn't say a word.  I just kept listening to her read.  I was afraid to disturb her...it was sort of like spotting wildlife.  If you snap a twig they will run away.

I am so excited to phase in some new literacy stuff with her now.  First up: sounding out big words. 

Like Constantinople.  It's fun to say.  Just hard to read.

And now, by virtue of association (and because we are fans of TMBG around here) I offer this for your viewing and listening pleasure:

There's a badge for that...

Last night I attended a meeting for volunteer Unit Leaders at our area's Girl Scout day camp that is scheduled to start in about three weeks.  It was already at the end of a long, long day, and even though I had a coffee to pull me through, I was thoroughly irritated after spending just five minutes in this room of chatty ladies, waiting for the meeting to start.  Then my angst hit a new level when a 40-something Brownie-wanna-be sat next to me.  She was even dressed in brown and green.  Tacky.  She had a shoulder bag with her.  This bag was not just any bag, thankyouverymuch.  It was a patch-hoarders dream!!  And all of the near-by ladies hovered over her (I even had to scoot back so some other ladies could lean over), squealing with delight over her bragfest collection.  This lady even put Isabella, an extremely prodigious Fireside Girl, to shame.  There were so many patches that there was nary a spot of plain fabric to be seen.  There were even special patches from a unit in California.  Special.  Don't confuse my sarcasm with jealousy.  Nope.  It's just pure, unadulterated annoyance at anyone who feels like they need to advertise their scouting achievements to such a heightened degree, of... gaudiness?  embroidery overkill?  Is she really that in need of recognition?  Isn't scouts for (ahem) the girls?

I guess I am just annoyed with all things patches, record-keeping, scheduling, planning, and just Girl Scouting in general. 

Can you tell?

"Sexy"

Am I the cruel type of mom that will post her 12 yr old son's first love note for all of the "internets" to see? 

Why yes.  Yes I am.

But not for the reason that you might think.  I am not out to embarrass him or make him feel bad... it just makes for good blog fodder!!  I will have to make my case for non-embarrassment pretty air-tight though, because that boy is getting more internet-savvy by the day, and he will find his own way to this blog sooner or later.

Back to the note.

We homeschool.  No note-passing in these parts unless you count the endless love notes Rylan writes to her brothers on a daily basis.  We don't do any outside enrichment classes as of late.. not even Sunday school.  Nope.  Never the less, this note-passing thing happened, yesterday, in karate of all places.  Not during class though (that would have been amusing), but afterwards, as everybody was trying to squeeze out the door.  A boy came forward and pressed the note into Jordan's hand.  He was obviously the messenger, and I think he had an idea of the note's contents, because he just couldn't get away fast enough.

Jordan and I were in the middle of a discussion about a scheduling headache this coming weekend with belt promotions and a boy scout campout happening simultaneously.  (I will have to drive an hour up into the mountains on Saturday to retrieve him, deliver him to karate to go through his testing, and then drive him back to camp.  All without knowing exactly where he will be camping.  Good times are a-comin' this weekend!

Back to the note.

As I said - we were in the middle of logistics when this note landed in his open hand.  He opened it and turned beet-red about 5 seconds later.  He must have read the 'sexy' part.  He then handed ME the note because it must have been causing mild burns on his hand or something...

Now stop right here - what 12 year old boy, in his right mind, would shove a love note that he received into his parent's hand?  Our sweet (and maybe a little too innocent, when it comes to these things) Jordan, that's who!  This right of passage was just thrust upon him and he had no idea what to do with it.  I love, love, love, that he invites us in to help him navigate this turn of events.  I cringe at the sad thought of countless pre-teens, all faced with this eventual scenario, who just thrust the note into the back of the sock drawer, and hope it will all go away.  They walk downstairs and hardly utter a word during dinner.  Their mind is working away the whole while, dreading going back to school the next day.  All because somebody 'likes' them.  These are big feelings and no wonder kids don't know what to do with them!

I'm not an idiot, I knew exactly what the note was going to be about.  You just 'know'.  I just held its small folded-self in my hand as we finished our discussion.  First - I wasn't going to give the note-giver any more of the satisfaction of watching Jordan read it and be further embarrassed.  Second - I hope they saw it land in my hands.  Muah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!  The evil parent now holds the note!!!  Oh, the horror!!!  And to think she took it straight home and POSTED IT ON HER BLOG!

When we got into the car, I gave it back to Jordan (without opening it), and innocently asked, "So.  What does it say?".  He got as far as... "I love you Jordan.  you've got a secret lover."  Then he handed it back to me, embarrassed again, and asked me to finish reading it because he didn't want to read the next word...."Sexy".

Two things.

1.  She used the gross terminology "secret lover".  WHO says that?  She must be reading her mom's trash novels.

2.  She used 'you've' correctly.  At least she has that going for her!

The note finishes out with directions on where to leave a note for her in return (in an 'emty shoe cuby at karatie'), along with the indication that she was not going to share her name.  She now loses all credibility with me because she can't even spell 'karate' correctly.  Yes, I know.  I'm a spelling-Nazi.  Can't help it.

So that leaves poor Jordan with the burning question of: "WHO is his secret lover??"

On this particular day there were four possible candidates.  One of which he likes very much, and has for quite awhile.  But I don't think it is her.  She doesn't look like the type who would use the words - secret lover.  I do think she likes him too, though.  Her dad is aware of the situation too because he always gives me a knowing smile when he arrives to pick her up at the end of class.  We have this unspoken agreement:  We approve.  We will rotate holidays and welcome grandchildren in about 18 years' time.

So that leaves the other three, all of which seem equally likely to use secret lover, which is why I don't like them.  What unsocialized homeschooler uses that word?  Oh yeah...the 'socialized' ones.

That is what makes this whole situation so ridiculously funny to me.  Yes, part of the reason we homeschool is to shelter our kids from the pressures of growing up too fast.  So here we are, seeking to dodge this kind of stuff, and it happens anyway.  You can't win!!  It is harmless at this point - maybe even a little 'cute', but it is actually painful to watch Jordan grapple with this sort of thing.  He's growing up...and there is no way to stop it.

Be prepared.

The day will come when your kids all of a sudden become 'older'.  Here, on this eve of Jordan's twelfth birthday, the heart of the matter of what has been really bothering me lately has revealed itself.  Jordan is at the age where he should be the one to resolve his own interpersonal issues, (long, dramatic pause) and I am having a hard time of letting go of my former role in this.  He is also of the age where other adults and, more importantly - peers, will have influence on his decision-making.  I am having difficulty in accepting this as well.

 

 

For parents of public schooled kids, it comes with the territory.  You have become accustomed to your child being away from your direct influence for a good part of the day.  (there is no judgement here, just simple observation).

For parents of homeschooled children, you get so used to calling the shots that when another adult steps in or a peer exhorts an extraordinary amount of influence, it can be difficult to take...even alarming at times. 

I am not prepared.  Not in the least.  But I better get used to it.  Even embrace it.  Because the day is here.

The iPod Shuffle



When it comes to technology around the house, a trickle-down effect is in play.  Dean gets "X" gadget, and then when he is ready to move on to something newer, the gadget gets passed on to me.  And then to Jordan.  And then to Rylan.  And now, on to Owen. 

Dean has his Android phone.  He is up for renewal later this month, and he is debating about what he wants.  Probably the new Android.  Last renewal period was my turn (last August) and I opted for the iPhone.  Which meant that I would pass on my iPod touch (originally Dean's) on to Jordan, and my phone (originally Dean's) on to my father-in-law, who wanted a phone to tinker with (long story).  Jordan has been waiting patiently for the "iPod shuffle" to happen.  It's been 8 months.  I don't know why it took so long... I am just inept when it comes to technology.  And I am also lazy.  So the thought of getting every last bit of info off of the Touch seemed daunting.  Sunday evening just morphed into this effort to finally get the iPod into Jordan's hands, so I set to work.  It took *maybe* thirty minutes.  Dean wiped it, reloaded it with Jordan's music library that he originally had on his iPod classic, set up Jordan's email (wi-fi) and the iPod Touch was his.  It is now a permanent extension of his hand.  He has emailed his dad (while he is at work) about fifteen times already in the past day and a half, and played Angry Birds every second not otherwise occupied by schoolwork.

Rylan has now inherited the iPod Classic.  The battery, unfortunately, seems to be shot.  It will only hold a charge for about an hour.  Dang.  In the meantime, the tiny iPod shuffle is now Owen's, who is a true music aficionado.  He *loves* Coldplay, Adele, U2, They Might be Giants, Lady Gaga, Foster the People, Mumford and Sons and others..  Yesterday morning was strange, as the kids wandered around the house, captivated by their new 'toys'.

I'm not ready for the 'insert-headphones-ignore-your-parents-and-everybody-else' stage of childhood yet.  Although I will confess that I did slip Jordan some headphones in church last week.  He was playing a math game on my phone, and after a few problems they slip in a short video clip about some science or nature, and then resume the math problems.  He was actually trying to listen to it by turning the volume up, so in a quick act of desperation I shoved my headphones in his hand.  And then regretted it because this is the boy who never remembers to clean his ears.  Gross.

I am opposed to kids always being plugged into something.  I only ever allow it when desperate times call for it.  The doctor's office.  Bored children sitting in church.  (Hey, can I play too??), long car rides...  I don't like it at restaurants, but if they have been polite during the meal and finished their food, and if the adults are talking and talking and talking, then I don't blame them.  I would be bored too - so there is nothing wrong with a little entertainment.  But sitting at home, it seems ridiculous.  Yet, when I think about how many times a day I whip out my phone to play Words with Friends or check out Facebook, I feel a little ridiculous too.

I think I am going to need a pry bar to get the Touch out of his hands at this point...