Cake Plug

Every now and again I have to use my beloved blog in an attempt to promote my love of making cakes. I really have the recipe down now and the more practice I get, the more I love my final products.
I have become obsessed with the show Ace of Cakes on the Food Network and have decided it is my life's dream to work for Duff at Charm City Cakes. I know, in my wildest dreams.
Here is the latest cake I made and, I have to say, I think it's the best yet. The theme was the Mickey Mouse Club House...

Just in Case You Were Wondering...

Charlie recently answered one of the great queries in life.

As he sat nestled on Will's lap, both dressed in their bathing suits, Charlie fondling Will's nipple, he looked up and said, "Hey, Dad, know why you have nipples? They help you swim."

Well, there you go. Men have nipples because they help them swim. Why had we never thought of that?

Vacation

\vā-ˈkā-shən, və-\ A respite or a time of respite from something; a scheduled period during which activity is suspended.

Respite? Suspended activity? Ha. Mr. Merriam and Mr. Webster clearly never had small children.

While it was exhausting, chaotic, and full of constant activity, our beach "vacation" (perhaps beach "trip" would be a more fitting word) was so much fun.

Charlie proved to be the biggest trouper of us all, hitting the beach at nearly 9 a.m. every morning, only to return for dinner around 5. He ate lunch on the beach, relieved himself in the ocean, and kissed any sort of "quiet time" goodbye. By the end of the week, child-protective services would probably have taken him from me at one glance. The kid was weathered.

Anna, clinging stubbornly to crawling as her main mode of transportation, was not as easy. I think the sand irritated her knees, so she tired of the beach quickly. She, however, loved the rope swing under the beach house. Both the kids loved spending the mornings riding on the golf cart with Mamun and Papa to get the newspaper (or so I'm told, as I used this time to catch up on some much-needed z's).

We all loved every second of the entire trip.

On The Move

Time to re-enter reality. Things have been absolutely wild around our household lately, as the summers often go. We just returned from a week at the beach and the entire week before was spent packing every single one of our belongings for the trip, so the blog was placed on the back burner. And so much has happened!
Most exciting, is that Ms. Anna has finally decided to let go of my finger and take a few steps on her own. It started last week when she discovered (while "dancing" by bouncing up and down on her rear) that she could stand up. After a day of perfecting that skill, she decided to tackle the actual walking. Although she is still mostly crawling, she is walking more and more. True to her personality, the mere fact that walking places her smack-dab in the center of attention with cheers and applause should have her completing marathons by the end of the month.
I didn't catch the actual first steps on video, but here is a snippet from a few days later at the beach house...

He's Overflowing Profanity!

This evening while at my mom's house, surrounded by his grandmother, great-grandmother, grandfather, cousin, great-aunt, sister, mother and father, Charlie became frustrated with setting up some teetering bowling pins and, in his most frustrated voice, shouted, "Damn it!". Then he went about his business as if nothing happened.

I have no idea where he heard such distasteful language.

The profanity train seems to be on a roll...

Do The F*ck

Charlie's "phrases and tricks" come and go about as quickly his good moods. The latest trick goes something like this:
Charlie: "Hey, Mommy, I learned a new dance at school!" (He says this at least 5 times a day, and school has been out for a month.)
Me: "Really? Cool!"
Charlie: "Yep, it's called The _____" (Insert here some nonsense-word such as Washalad or Googalon).
Then he gyrates around for a minute or two.

Imagine my pride when I am informed, in usual fashion, of the new dance he learned at school. It's called "The F*ck".

Everything In Between

I knew it had been a while since I visited my keyboard to record my near-daily ramblings, but I certainly was not aware just how long it had been. I'd like to say the things that have kept me away from my blogging world have been enormously important, exciting, and life-changing, but I am an honest woman. Here is a little sneak peak of a few of the events that have taken place in the weeks since my last blog:

1. Anna began cutting her two top teeth and morphed from a happy-go-lucky baby girl to a thrashing, flame-spitting, inconsolable monster. (Understandably, her gums would make a grown man cringe, but still...) All teeth, no sleep makes Anna a miserable girl.
2. I managed to involve myself in a four-car collision, causing two weeks (and many much-needed dollars) worth of repair for my beloved minivan. Rental? Chevy cobalt...seats 1 1/2, reeks of cigarette smoke and potpourri, large cigarette burns in driver's side seat. Nightmare.
3. While parked at the train station for the weekend while the hubby and I were taking our first trip sans kids (that is the highlight...more on that later), Will's truck window was smashed to smithereens and the contents of the truck (including spare keys and his navigation system) was stolen. Entire house had to be re-keyed. Window had to be repaired. Ouch.

BUT, somewhere in between all of this chaos, Will and I managed to get away for our first long weekend. We took a supposed 12-hour train ride to Philly (turned out to be more like 16) for one of Will's high school buddies' wedding. We loved every second of the never-ending train ride. Will's weekend was filled with groomsmen activities, while I was free for the first time in years to do what. ever. I. wanted. I missed the monkeys immensely, but I reveled in long, hot baths, the best massage of my life, naps, lunch and shopping with my mother and father-in-love :), and late night parties. We had such a great time it managed to overshadow the drama of the car accident and miserable teething.
Most of all, I was reminded of how much fun I have with my husband.








Of course, not a single part of this weekend would have been possible without both sets of my parents, and my cousin.
Thank you so much Mimi and Grandaddy for organizing such a wonderful stay for us. We loved spending time with you away from bedtimes and diaper changes!
Thank you so much Mom, Dad, and Kate for taking over the caregiver role for the weekend...I know it's no vacation. I appreciate you all taking such good care of our angels so we could relax!