Going crazy!

It has been raining all day and still raining! I am just going crazy. My cell phone (which has been dropped, chewed and drooled on a thousand times) is now giving me a hard time! Some of the buttons do not work and the curser only moves down and occasionally sideways!!! I love the phone, but it's now dated because it's over a year old, so I've been looking at Blackberry and Sidekicks, but still can't decide. I also have to wait for my phone contract to be up before I get a new phone or else I'll have to pay full price of $300 and upwards!!! I really try to be practical and have a phone just for phone sake, but I've gotten addicted to the extras like the camera, music player and web access.

I spent the day away from house work and spent the day just playing with the kids. Kai is going through some growing pains and testing his boundaries. We are still working on the potty training, he makes poopy in the toilet, but doesn't make it for peeing. So I came up with another motivation system (not really a bribe), every time he pees in the toilet he gets a ticket that he can redeem for something that he wants like watching t.v. or an ice cream. One ticket gets him one show, which also limits the amount of television that he watches, because ice cream costs ten tickets, trip to the zoo or museum 25 and toy store is 50. It might seem like alot, but kids go to the toilet like ten times a day.

In one day he has already learned about saving and spending. He wanted an ice cream and a show last night, but he didn't have enough tickets for both so he decided to save up his tickets and got to have an ice cream today. It was cute, when he first handed me his tickets and got his treat he asked me to give his tickets back. I had to give him an example of when mommy goes to the store and buys groceries, I get food for the money and the store doesn't give me back money. He then understood. I think this is a great system! Every time he gets a ticket, he takes out all his other tickets to count them. I can't believe that I'm already teaching him how to add and subtract. That makes me less guilty about not having him in preschool like the rest of his friends. Jimmy was great in supporting me and telling me that he is right where he needs to be and advanced in some areas too. How many three year olds can actually cook?

He's my little helper. He helps me chop vegetables, measure and pour ingredients, mix batter and even fry eggs! He's also a great grocery helper, he always remembers what I forget.

Little Cassia is now a toddler! Yep, I'm sad my baby is growing up. The year just flew by so fast! She loves to show off her steps and act like it's nothing that she is walking! I'm slowing down on the picture taking, but have to get back into it so that I can capture as many baby moments as possible.

We are in a frenzy trying to prepare for our trip to New Jersey for the National Bread and Pastry competition. I am so excited and nervous for Jimmy and Sandra. I really hope that they take the gold. I'll try to take lots of picture and post at the end of the month.

Snack Attack

Last Sunday we spent the day at a nearby park walking around Whole Food's annual Flavor Fest, which Jimmy has renamed more appropriately as 'snack attack'. Funny name but, true. They have the distributors of some of the products they carry sampling their wares (mostly snacks!). We got lots of samples for organic chips, yogurt, drinks, carrots, cereal and laundry detergent! We had to stroll home to drop off our samples then go back to listen to the band English Beat. Jimmy, Cassia and I had a blast dancing and snacking, while Kai (like always) was passed out!

My Birthday

I bet you are all wanting to hear all about it! Well, Jimmy surprised me with a red velvet cake and my favorite chocolate covered caramel marshmallows from Vosges Haute Chocolate. It was delicious!!! The red velvet reminded me of the ones you would get down south, moist cake with creamy not too sweet cream cheese and nut filling...mmmm..yum!

The surprises continued with a babysitter for the kids and dinner at Charlie Trotter's restaurant! Holy cow! I've been wanting to go to that restaurant for over ten years and I finally got to go! Thanks for taking me Jimmy. We had a fabulous eight course meal with extra desserts. I had the non-alcoholic beverage pairings with my meal and it was phenomenal! How clever of them to match vegetable and fruit juices perfectly with every dish! (Now I want a juicer!) The restaurant was comfortable, not too flashy, I felt like I was in someone's home having a lovely dinner with my husband. It did feel a bit awkward at first because we didn't have the children with us, but once the meal started it felt like we were dating again.

The portions appear small, but were perfect in my opinion, because after all the courses (it took three hours for dinner) I was stuffed and amazingly energized! I couldn't go to sleep after we got home, I'm guessing it was the juices and infusions! (I really have to get a juicer!) After the meal, we were given a tour of the restaurant and given a little box of pastries for our 'take-away'. Overall, the food was star and fabulous! The service was a little off and that is all I'm going to say about it right now. I'm still debating weather I should write a letter to Mr. Trotter about my experience since I have been wanting to dine at his restaurant for over a decade! You're suppose to want to go back to a fantastic restaurant like that right? Well, let's just say I would for the phenomenal food but not for the service.

Well, other than the goodies and dinner, Jimmy surprised me with my own photo printer! It's like I have a mini version of those photo printers you see at the photo developers! Yay! No more trips to CVS for me. I had so much fun editing and adding extras to the pictures, I'm all out of ink from printing so much I have to run to Best Buy for more this week.

My best girlfriend sent me a dvd about lattes...he..he.he. She knows me well and I love coffee! She is such a good listener (that's why she's my best girl). I mentioned that I've been wanting the instructional d.v.d. about latte art for some time now and she listened. Just like she did many many many Christmas's ago (before Jimmy) when on my wish list I had asked for practical things like flashlights and tool kits, she was the only one who took it seriously. Really, lotions and potions are great, but I'm a crafter so I love tools of all kinds. Thank you Keilani and I love you girl!

My sister sent me a set of demi spoons and cocktail forks...soo cute, and a sweet book about sisters ^_^ She went through the book and added little comments to personalize it for me. Thanks Viv, I'll keep it forever, and thanks to Gabbie and Lawrence for the cute handmade cards.

My mom made me my favorite goodies and I received a sweet card from my mom and dad in-law. Thank you to all my wonderful parents.

Also, thanks to all of my wonderful friends who wished me a happy birthday. I absolutely had a wonderful one.

I wish you all a wonderful day. Love to all. Hugs and kisses.

Diaper Cake

Jimmy has a co-worker who recently had a baby girl, so I got to make another diaper cake! This time I took a photo. Yea, diapers are a little boring for a gift, but essential! Plus the fun presentation makes it fun to receive, besides the way I make them, there is a little surprise in each layer! The bottom layer has a hand puppet hidden in the center of the cake, the middle layer has onsies, and the top (if it's not too tight) I usually try to add something for the mom like a nursing bracelet or a little picture frame. You could fill the center with endless baby things like travel sized baby toiletries, a baby bottle, bibs, wash clothes, toys, burp clothes and tiny books.

I've researched how much they cost at the store and let me tell you that with everything pictured, it was not even close to the $80 price tag you find at baby boutiques! Plus, the ones you buy from the store is only diapers and whatever it is decorated with. Making them myself is more fun because I can add my little surprises.
The directions on making these can be found by looking up diaper cakes, but since I didn't like the idea of having to individually wrap them with a rubber band I actually lined a cake pan with them. Then used kitchen twine to tie around the diapers to give the cake shape and covered the twine with pretty ribbon. Stack the layers on a cake circle or make your own (a platter would be cute too) insert cake dowels or chopsticks or skewers (whatever you have) in the center to prevent layers from toppling and top with a plushie. Voila your own custom made diaper cake at a fraction of the retail price. These cakes can be further embellished with baby bottles, pacifiers, or silk flowers!