Tales of a Shoebox Princess

But I'm not going to list them all here. Besides, really it's just a list of years; on the other hand, those years add up to Jim. And I'm kind of partial to Jim. Yes, folks, it's make-a-cake day! And also eat-a-cake day! I'm sure you all saw pics of his cake on fb or instagram (or both) already. But here it is again: Jim never did give me any input on how to decorate the cake, so I had to come up with it on my own. I picked what I hoped was a highlight of this past year (despite the red eyes--come to think of it, I should have put a pair of red eyes on the cake somewhere). He has also been complaining about the winter. Personally, I don't know what there is to complain about; it's Minnesota, winter is SUPPOSED to be cold and snowy. But whatev. He seems to like "warm weather" or whatever it's called. Last night we went out for dinner and then he suggested a stroll around Barnes and Noble. Jim grabbed the one book he wanted and I had to ...

Family birthday celebrations are getting smaller and smaller. It was weird. Matt had his requested birthday dinner of taco salad, blue and green jello, and strawberries with just Jim and me. Hayley was at work. And the rest of the kids...well, who knows where they were! They all chimed in as much as they could though. Both Elders sent emails wishing little brother a happy birthday, and Mrs. McCall (that is still weird to say!) sent appropriate electronic greetings as well. Behold, the birthday TARDIC: Color is close enough, although it looks lighter than it does in real life. Either he's a hipster, or he's cold. Matt and cake candle duty So there you go. Matt turned 15. Today he came home with a smallish box. He said as he opened it to show me what was inside, "This is my assignment for the Halloween dance at school. As a member of the Robotics team, I have to help and they told me I was in charge of these." He opened the box. Tarot cards. (...

Jim and I were awoken early this morning to violent thunderstorms. It rained several inches. I wasn't worried about the rain interfering with Paul's farewell open house because thunderstorms usually don't last that long. They did last several hours in the wee hours, but that much energy wouldn't sustain itself into the afternoon. And I didn't mind the bog in the backyard either. At least the yard got watered. Oh yeah, yesterday? Matt was mowing the lawn and one of the back wheels broke. Like it broke OFF the lawn mower. But he persevered with the three-wheeled mower until the handle broke off. Really, mower? We were getting ready for a party! AND we're sending out a missionary! Hello, blessings? How is a broken mower a blessing? (I'm being overdramatic). After watching Matt struggle with trying to put the handle back on the mower for a minute, I turned to Jim and said, "Just go buy a new mower." So he did. Anyway, we worked hard getting ready f...

Namely years, in the case of Hayley. It's hard to believe that she has been around for 16 years. She was born back when we were still in the townhouse. Not that she remembers living there. 16 things about Hayley: 1. She gets packages in the mail. She's some sort of trendsetter on a website and as a result of having so many followers, she gets freebies in the mail. 2. I tease her about it, saying she's like Lane's little brother in "Better Off Dead," but I don't think she can build a rocket out of cheap t-shirts and leggings with skulls on the knees (which is what her packages usually contain) 3. She's going to prom 4. and proudly wearing a dress she rescued from the dress up box, one that used to be Katie's. 5. She stayed home sick from school today (the day after her birthday) 6. I think she just stayed up too late playing with her birthday present 7. which was an electronic drawing tablet. 8. She goes to friends' houses after school...

Jim had a birthday yesterday! Cake! Of course the ideas for cake decoration always come at the last minute so I don't have time to fully flesh out the idea and collect materials. But since cake is meant to be eaten, I don't mind so much that my ARTISTIC VISION is not fully realized. Plus, Jim doesn't care. When I asked him what kind of cake I should make him, his response was "whatever, just not strawberry flavored." And even then, he said, "I'd still eat it, though." Has there EVER been a guy easier to please than Jim? I think not. The idea came from his age. Yes, he's 51. And when I hear "51," first thing that springs to mind is Area 51, that secret military base that houses aliens. How to turn that into a cake? Pretend that Jim is an alien. I like the lettering style of the 51. It ain't perfect, but I like it. The HB, in case you can't figure it out, means Happy Birthday The cake plate is upside down and covered ...

Matt asked for a simple party with three friends to play the Wii with him. Maybe a little pizza and cake. No presents, just some laffs with three boys he has known for years (two of them since birth, and the other is a cousin of one of the boys he has known from birth and has gotten to know over the years and has become very good friends with). An easier birthday party there has never been, at least in my house. Matt asked for his birthday presents to be given to him a day early, mostly because he guessed one of them was going to be a Wii game and he wanted to play it with his friends. So we indulged the boy and let him open his gifts this morning. Labeled for your convenience He's nearly 14 and he still wants Legos. I suppose he'll be asking for Legos into his adult years. When he gets Legos, he puts he set together in 5 minutes. Then he loses a figure, wails about it for a while, then we find it under a couch cushion several months later, and then he asks for an...

H B as in Happy Birthday. Happy birthday to Matt. His birthday is Sunday, his party is on Saturday and today is Friday. Stuff I gotta do: 1. Bake a cake 2. Frost the cake 3. Decorate the cake 4. Wrap some presents 5. Go to someone else's birthday dinner 6. Make dessert bars for a Super Saturday event 7. Mail wedding invitations 8. Knit 5 more dishcloths, possibly 7 or 10 9. Print out some pictures for a bridal shower next week 10. Not go crazy Fortunately I don't work today (although I will answer calls and I will make some calls later) so I have a better chance at getting some of those things done than most days. And I already have the decorative icing made. Matt will be 14. When did this happen?

Cake. It was my week. I baked two cakes and many cupcakes. It ended up being about 1 1/2 cakes too many, but having leftover cake is certainly not a BAD thing. It's not like having leftover okra or leftover roadkill souffle. Anyway, yes, I like to make cakes and decorate them. It may even be a hobby. Or at least a time waster when I have more important things that I really should be doing but don't want to do. I don't decorate my house, but if there is a flour/egg/sugar baked good, you can be sure I'll be right there with my homemade buttercream frosting, Wilton decorating tips and pastry bags, and the appropriate colors of Wilton food coloring paste to fit the occasion, and I will decorate the heck out of that baked good. This was one of the results of my efforts this week: The cross country running cake Normally I hate the word "Congrats," but I had to use it because I started the word "Congratulations" too far to the right. So I had to b...

Life is not "life as I know it" anymore. The rules are changing. Babies are now teenagers. Hayley is 15. Technically this means she can get a driver's permit. She hasn't registered for driver's ed yet though. Don't know when that will happen because she's a busy girl. I'm not going to list her attributes, because invariably, she'll disagree with whatever I've written. She is un-pigeonhole-able. Except for one thing: She has a good singing voice. I learned that last Saturday night at the ward talent show. She sang "Yesterday" and accompanied herself on the bass guitar. I personally think that Katie sings tres beautifully, but I had not realized how well little sister sang. They are different however--Katie sings Broadway style, while Hayley sings in an indie alt/rock style. There is no growl in her voice, but it's just edgier than Katie's voice.They'll have to sing together in church next time Katie's here in MN...