Unicorn Cake

Ok, I get a ton of hits for people searching for "Unicorn Cake". I just realized today I posted a before picture but never an "after" one. So for all those people who have come here looking for ideas and such, I apologize. Allow me to rectify that right now.

Here was the concept pictures I drew:



And here is the finished result:


I didn't bake this cake. I commissioned Baskin Robbins instead. It's strawberry ice cream with vanilla cake. The girl there is amazing and has done cakes for all of my children at some point.

So there you go, I hope for anyone that searches in the future, or has searched previous, this shows you how it came out.

Impossibly Good

These chips are just as they claim, "Impossibly Good". I'm in love with the Apple Cinnamon Grove and Wild Berry Patch. I love these so much that they are my own "secret treat" I keep stashed in the office for my own snacking. I cannot stop eating them. They are a most tasty addiction!

You can download a free dollar off coupon by googling Impossibly Good. Give them a try, I'm sure you'll love them!

From Head to Toe

I ordered this from Scholastic for the kids. I have to say, this is the most amazing book and Arwen LOVES it. She is really curious about the body. She loves to read about blood, arteries, veins, bones and such. When I take her to the doctor she'll ask as many questions as she can about the various maps and diagrams.

The book has large maps of the body inside as well as little experiments. If you have a child that likes this sort of thing, it's definitely worth the investment!

Almost

The other day my Mom (Jim's Mom) brought over some wallpaper. I was so excited. I've been wanting to do our living room for the longest time but since the kids were young (and money was tight) have had to wait. She found the most beautiful deep red wallpaper with the most subtle striping to it. Even better, she found it at 2 dollars (yes you read that right) a roll. I was beyond happy.

Sadly, I was 1 roll shy of what was needed to do the back wall (I'm doing one wall and painting the rest, using the wallpaper to add depth and texture). So I began the search online and when I hit the jackpot I had to stop from shitting myself. The paper she found on sale usually runs 20-40 dollars a ROLL. I ended up spending about 40 dollars for 2 rolls but in the long run, I actually saved money (if you think about it). Had I bought all the paper at cost it would have been $150 instead of $46, I can live with that.

Then yesterday while out I found the most amazing curtains (they are pictured below a roll of the wallpaper). They too were on sale! So the room is coming together. All that's left is to pick out the paint (from the pillow in the photo, that matches the couch). Then I'll spend a weekend doing my living room, FINALLY.

It's about time, our entire home has one room for adults, the formal dining room, and even that is slowly being taken over with home work and supplies (I have a metal wire cabinet with supplies and organizers underneath the antique hutch that holds my wedding paraphernalia). It will be awesome to have a room for me to sit in that doesn't have wall to wall toys!

Twistable Crayons

Here comes shameless advertising (without the check made out to yours truly sadly).

This is the best invention EVER. These crayons last and last, don't leave wrappers laying about and are sturdy enough to withstand being stepped on. I swear by them and they are absolutely worth the extra cash.

I'd never seen them before until this year. If you color at home with your children (or if you know a kiddo who enjoys to color) consider picking up a box. You won't regret it.

Rocks my Socks

If I were Oprah, I'd put these on a list of my favorite things. I found these the other night at Hell-Mart and they rock my socks! (pun intended!) These are socks & house shoes all in one. I put these on and can walk anywhere AND my feet stay nice and warm.

Exhausted

Boy am I whooped. I've been going all day long and I just now finished. I'm never going to want to get up tomorrow, so I'd better blog fast!

I got the goody bags done for the party tomorrow and I'm so happy with them. I bought cheap bags and matching ribbon, little things like whistles, stickers and unicorn tattoos, some candy and other random stuff. I stuffed each bag then folded the top down, punched two holes with my punch, and placed the ribbon through to make a bow to hold it in place. I also made little name cards with construction paper.

Not bad if I say so myself (and not for what it cost in the end, I saved a ton!)

As for the hair. I'm not as excited with it as I thought. The stylist did a great job, I just wanted more of a style. Anyhow, the color is great, the red tint is very lovely. I'll take more pictures of it tomorrow at the party to share.

Unicorn Cake, Take 1

Back on topic from my previous entry. Today I had to tackle two things in regard to Arwen's birthday cake.

Where to purchase it?

What kind of unicorn to have on it, if a pre-made design wasn't available.

I contacted several bakeries. At first I was set on the PA Bakery. They make the most delicious cakes but truth be told, they are very expensive. I decided to try Publix but when I called there was a huge language barrier with the person I spoke to.

"Hello, bakery." I knew immediately this might be tough.

"Hi, do you make unicorn birthday cakes?"

"You like birthday cake? come down to choose what you want."

"But do you have a unicorn cake?"

"We write what you like here, only take a minute, you come down."

"But do you make unicorn birthday cakes? Do you have that design?"

"We write what you want, it easy."

I thanked the lady and hung up, so much for Publix. Finally I called the one source for birthday cakes. Baskin Robbins. This place has raked in so much of our cash it ain't even funny. They have done cakes for all of my children. The only reason I didn't go there first is Vincent doesn't' particularly love ice cream.

The wonderful cake decorator (she has worked there for years) told me if I could bring in a picture (non-copyrighted of course) that wasn't too complex she could place it upon the cake. She also told me the exact size I bring in will be the size placed on the cake.

I hung up the phone and got to work. I found a picture online I liked and took it from there, it took about 30 minutes to draw it out and then to trace with a black permanent marker for definition. Below is the picture as I'll have it colored with icing. Now I have to decide what color to do the cake and border and to ask Arwen what flavor ice cream and cake she would like inside.

On a side note, Mom asked if I'd like cake decorating classes for my birthday this year. I am in serious need of a refresher course as well and some practice. I told her I'd be thrilled. So maybe, just maybe, I can do the other childrens cakes from this birthday forward.

**edited** For the complete cake please see HERE.

I need your opinion!!

I need your help. The time has come to cut my hair again. If you look to your right you can see my hair now. Very long and layered. But below are some pictures of me with short hair. Do I pull it off well enough to chop it again?

This is me with it chopped and stacked in the back. The cut came just to my chin. I LOVED this haircut. My hair was colored a dark red also. This was 10 years ago after I donated all my long hair to locks of love (all 15 inches of it!)

And here is my cut from a few years ago. Just a simple bob, close to the chin.

So tell me, cut or not to cut?

Brush your Teeth

Alright, the time has come. I'm going to do an entry on teeth.

First I have to ask, when did people stop brushing? Each time I make it out of my home I will bump into at least one person either,

A. Missing Teeth
B. With rotten teeth
C. With gold/silver/etc on their teeth.

I just don't understand it. I realize cavities are going to happen. But didn't you notice some problems prior to your entire front row of teeth being rotten? I'm pretty sure you didn't just wake up one day and Ka-BOOM! Teeth that look like total ass.

What's worse are the parents with children who have rotten teeth. I've seen this too. A parent should be ashamed if their toddler has two front teeth that are totally brown and rotted. I realize from Arwen that antibiotics in early infancy can discolor new baby teeth but there is a huge difference in a discoloration and rot.

Most of the problems stem from idiotic parents in my area. When I used to wait tables I would see Moms and Dads come in all the time, toddler in tow. When I'd ask if I could get some milk for the baby they'd often request coke because it was free (for refill) versus the milk. I wanted to strangle those parents and if I had the extra cash on me I'd sometimes buy the milk myself.
Then there are parents that allow their children to suck on candy all day long, that'll do it right there.

True story, I was in Hell-Mart once and their was a very overweight child with his Mother (who was also a bit heavy). Now, anyone who's been to their own little nook of hell knows they try to trap you with products all along the cashier register. This young man knew what he was doing. I watched as he grabbed Snickers bars, Twix, Skittles, Nerds and assorted candies from the boxes. His Mom turned around.

"What you doing?" she asked him. She was still placing her groceries on the belt.

"You said I could get something if I was good this week and I was good."

"I said that but I thought you'd get a toy."

"I want this for my surprise."

She stopped for a second and sighed. I was waiting, expecting her to tell him to pick one thing and to put the rest back.

"A'ight...grab me a Zero bar."

My mouth nearly dropped to the floor. The boy kept going and threw a small sugar treasure on the belt. I can only imagine the calories and sugar but not to be outdone, he also snagged Mountain Dew from the freezer in front of us.

The there are the true class in my area. The drug abusers and drunks. It's become a small crisis. When I shot pool on an APA league I would get accosted nightly by drunken players with one rotten tooth sticking from red, diseased looking gums. They'd smile and lean forward, hand reaching to shake. It made my skin crawl at times. There is nothing so attractive as man with a cig hanging from his lip, drink in his hand and when he smiles two teeth are all you see.

Nasty.

So I'd like to ask everyone to spread the message. Tell the world it's time to start brushing their teeth already. If not the next time I blog about this I'll include a picture of meth mouth. Yikes!

No Means NO!

For the most part, I always check my caller ID when the phone rings. This helps me weed out telemarketers and such. But on some days, I'm too busy and my hands are literally too full to take a look before I hit the talk button. Today was one of those days.

As soon as I answered my belly tightened. I heard the same spill.

"Hello! I'm from *insert company here* . How are you today?"

"I'm fine."

"That's wonderful. I'm calling today because our company is offering this *insert special here* and we'd like to extend an invitation for you to *insert invitation here* . The price is *insert price* . I just need your address to go ahead and sign you up."

"No thank you," I say.

"Oh but ma'am! This is a *insert one time offer here* ! Let me get your information so I can get this out to you today!"

"No," I start to say but am interrupted.

"I'd really love to,"

"No, I'm not interested!" I say over the person. I usually don't shout but it's close and I quickly hit the end button to cut off the connection.

Now first things first. When did people that want to sell YOU something begin making the decision to spend your money for you? When did people stop asking? Back when I did tele-marketing, I actually asked and I also took no for an answer (subsequently, I quit shortly after and they were glad to see me go).

.

If you want me to consider making a purchase from you, ask me. Telling me what I will do only pisses me off. I have children bossing me about all day, I don't need you adding to it.

When I say no, I mean no. Nothing you say is going to change my mind. I realize that you can break the resolve of those kind hearted people out there. I know this because I used to be one of them. Thankfully, after I married my husband he trained me on how to stop being a pushover. And let me tell you, if he answers the phone and not myself, brace yourself.

.

I realize this is your employment. This is how the bills get paid. But you have to realize that you are calling into peoples home, interrupting their busy lives. Don't go complaining to family about how rude and hateful people are you call up. Keep in mind, you often disturb dinner, family time or homework. You break up intimate moments between lovers/spouses/partners.

.

If I'm getting my groove on (which is a rare treat for me) and you interrupt that, there is going to be hell to pay. And worse yet, if you call while I am getting my groove on, while all of my children are away, I'm liable to lay the phone down and modesty be damned. Consider yourself warned.

.

If I had any suggestions for those tele-marketing now, I'd offer this advice:

Begin the search for a better and more gainful employment opportunity first and foremost.

Make your offer one time and don't interrupt when the person responds.

If someone is polite and says, "no thank you", accept that answer and move on. If you continue to push me, then don't have the audacity to act offended when I tell you to shove it up your pie hole.

If you are asked nicely to remove a person from your calling list, do it. There is nothing worse than repeat calls from the same place. I'm not positive but I imagine the people that hang up on you immediately, yell at you or curse you out are victims of constant phone calls made with that particular offer.

.

Treat people the way you want to be treated. Imagine you are the person that is cooking dinner and the phone rings.

And for the love of god. Do NOT call my cell phone. I don't like using it and keep it only in cases of emergency as far as my children are concerned. If you call my cell phone I will curse you out and hang up on you. I'm not wasting my minutes so you can tell me you have an offer I'm going to buy.

Mom 101

A few things to share with other Moms

~~~~~~

Mom Health 101

You can sustain yourself on as little as 1-2 hours of sleep per night. Just don't extend past a week or you'll begin to hallucinate.

If you want to eat a hot meal, munch and test the food while cooking. Otherwise you're sure to eat cold food after your family is finished.

Set aside 15 minutes per day for YOU. And this doesn’t include any naps you may take.

A tablespoon of peanut butter will give you energy. Eat a spoonful on those days when you’re just busy busy busy.

Helpful Hints 101

You can remove alot of stuff with fingernail polish remover, even permanent marker if you spot it in time (this won't work for cloth surfaces I'm sad to say).

A steaming bathroom caused by a hot shower is just as good as a cough medicine for a coughing child.

Purchase two calendars. One for the wall and one for the desk, table or wherever. Get into the habit of checking each week ahead of time. This will keep you on track for appointments and things you need to get done.

If you have an appointment and no time to iron that shirt of yours or pants, bring it into the bathroom with you when you shower. The steam will help remove some of the wrinkles if not all of them.

Cleaning 101

Save those plastic grocery bags, they come in very handy when you have a stinky beyond reason poopie diaper.

Wet wipes can clean so much. I purchase the generic bulk box and keep them in a labeled box for spills and the like. I use the more expensive brand for delicate bottoms.

Purchase fleece blankets and use them to cover the couch cushions. These are easily removeable, come in many colors and keep your couch from getting sticky and dirty. Your couch will last longer and this will save you from purchasing a new one each year.

Knock a candle over and get wax on your carpet? No problem. Let the wax dry and get your iron and a towel. Cut away away excess wax on the top that is loose. Place the towel on top of the wax, iron over the top for a minute. Lift the towel and no more wax in the carpet.

Do laundry daily. As much as it sucks it prevents the 'pile-up' from occurring. You do not want to deal with the 'pile-up', trust me on this one.

Shout liquid gel is your best friend. Always keep it on hand. And for the love of god, do not dry a stained piece of clothing, ever. Drying a stain = setting it into the cloth, FOREVER.

You can wash tennis shoes in the washer and tumble dry them, I do this all the time. To help regulate the BOOM, BOOM, insert a towel into the dryer along with the shoes.

Mr. Clean pads are my favorite thing in the world for cleaning. They do it ALL. Test one out on your bathtub sometime, AWESOME I tell you.

For those terrible, soap scum showers. Purchase Lysol scrubbing bubbles and a bristle toilet brush. Allow the bubbles to sit for 5 minutes then scrub with the brush. You will be amazed at home much easier cleaning your shower is, and you don't have to get your hands dirty.

You can bleach the plastic clear shower curtain to remove grime. Just put the curtain into your washer, add bleach, wash on delicate and air dry. Wah-La, like new curtain and zero moola spent.

Change the sheets on all the beds each week. There really are bed bugs. Dry your pillows (if not down) in the dryer for 10 minutes on high heat to kill off any pests. I also recommend washing comforters every other week.

Shopping 101

Vaseline works better than any desitin, diaper rash product and it's cheaper and easier to apply. And don't purchase the "Baby" Vaseline products versus the regular, if you check the ingredients they are the exact same thing but the smaller "baby" version costs on average 50-75 cents more.

Generic Tylenol and Motrin are just as good as the name brand.Generic foods, are not as good as the name brands (in many cases).

Grocery lists will help you save money. Sit and write the household items you need and then decide what meals you will cook, purchase in bulk and stick to the list.

Coupons are smart and thrifty, they are not stupid and cheap.

Go shopping early in the week and hit up the meat section for great deals. Remember the expiration date is the time something should be eaten or frozen by. Purchase and freeze and save a bundle. Buying in bulk and freezing will also save you cash.

The Dollar General, Big Lots, Freds and the Dollar Store have some great deals. If you haven't shopped there before, please do.

Ebay has a lot of bargains. Consider making purchases from there. I save a ton on my favorite hobby (reading) by making purchases there and from half.com.

Cooking 101

You don’t have to be a great cook or love cooking to do it. Invest in a crock pot, large pan and a fry daddy. Those three things will save you on the days you just don’t feel like a lot of effort.

You can find many recipes online for free. Just do a search, allrecipes.com is one of my personal favorites.

Buy frozen vegetables versus canned for most of your cooking needs. The frozen have less sodium, more vitamins and cost less on average. You can also purchase frozen in bulk.

Keep pasta on-hand. Pasta fills you up, is easy to prepare and is inexpensive.

If you must have cola’s, try different generic brands. There are decent ones out there and again, it will save you money.

If you give your children juice, add a little water to it. Juice is very concentrated and full of calories.

If your child absolutely will not drink water, try crystal light or make Kool-Aid.

~~~~~~

I’m not sure if any of these will help and there are things I’m not thinking of off the top of my head. Do you have Mom 101’s to share?