One of the most trivial decisions that I've had to make in my life was choosing and purchasing a cake for my own birthday. After all a birthday without cake is just another day. Usually my DH provides (buys or makes) my cake, but this year he wasn't able to seeing as how he's several hundred miles away at the moment. I knew what I wanted as far as the flavor, but wasn't quite sure about size. I didn't want anything that was going to be too big and still around the house for more than a few days. I did want something big enough to last at least through the weekend, and that I could share with the kids and the babysitter. After about 20 minutes of looking at the premade cakes in the W-M bakery, I finally decided on this decadent fudge chocolate layer cake. Not too big, not too small, and completely gone in 3 days. It was soooooo yummy! I took some decorator icing that I had on hand and added the cute little dots of pink myself just to give it a little more color.
Little Man gave me a birthday present that I didn't really care to receive nor could I return/exchange. He must've caught something that's been going around, b/c he was so sick that day and for most of the weekend. He couldn't keep anything down and then I pushed so much Pedialyte in him, that it gave him the runs when he was able to start eating again. Disgusting, I know! Sorry!! He seemed to be better by the following Monday, and then my daughter got sick. UGH!!! Then it was his turn again and for almost 2 weeks straight, they seemed to bounce whatever it was back and forth to each other. I didn't think it was ever going to end. Later on they both started feeling better and have been ever since. I thanked the good Lord above that I didn't catch it at the same time or we would've been in big trouble.Right as they were feeling better so we could get out of the house a bit, the wonderful weather of God greeted us with this one morning along with a cold snap that lasted for a few days. This was the view of my front yard from the front door.
It's FROST! It was simply beautiful glistening in the morning sun as it was beginning to melt. The sun rises behind my house, so it's covered by a huge shadow cast off the house. It was bitter cold for a few nights and mornings with temps down in the teens, but it would warm up for a brief period during the day, which also happened to be during naptime, so I let sleeping babes lie.In the greeting card industry, the 1st most profitable time of the year is none other than Valentine's Day. I had to work a LOT of hours during the week leading up to V-day and over V-day weekend. For those of you who don't know, I work as a vendor for American Greetings (AG) as a part-time merchandiser. One of the stores that I service is our local W-M. Well, I made a not-so-wise decision that Wednesday prior and worked a couple of hours before church service and after church service. Long story short, I ended up losing my babysitter for the following night, and had to take the kids to work with me. I can take them with me b/c it just looks like I'm shopping for cards, when I'm really not. So, we got some food and I let them eat it in the shopping cart while I straightened up cards. By the end of the night they were tired and ready to go. LM is beginning to develop what I call Osaka Syndrome. (Before we had our own kids, we would go out with some friends of ours who had a 1 yr old little boy to Osaka Japanese Steakhouse where they cook your food on the grill in front of you. The chefs do these little tricks and put on a "show" as they're cooking and they light the oil on the hibachi to where the flames from the fire rise up high and you can feel the heat from it. Well, the poor child became terrified of the fire and would cry. Over a few years the more & more we would go there and he knew it, the worse it became and his parents would have to take him out of the room away from the fire for a minute. THEN it got to the point where if he even saw the building from the parking lot, he would get upset and not want to go in at all. That's what I refer to now as the Osaka Syndrome.)
I've had to take them with me several times before, and I really try not to b/c they get bored really fast and I can't get a lot done, which is why I normally have a regular babysitter who we pick up from school and then bring her back to our house. As I said earlier, LM is beginning to develop the Osaka Syndrome when he sees the greeting card section at W-M. He's OK if it's just a brief stop or we keep going on by past the cabinets, but when Mommy stops & starts to straighten and pull cards out from underneath and restocks what needs to be, he starts to fuss and cry and it's not a pretty picture. I did manage to snap this quick shot of what I plan to be the last time that I have to take them along with me to work.
We took a couple of blankets to spread out in the bottom of the cart along with our coats, so it was a bit more comfy, and they either sat up or would lie down as they are in the pic. I was just finishing up and we were getting ready to leave b/c as you can see on LM's face, it was definitely past their bedtime. Since then, I now have my babysitter back during the week again, so they shouldn't have to go with me anymore.With DH not being here, I planned to try to make Valentine's Day special this year. The kids woke up to this.
I made heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast and we were going to make some sugar cookies with hearts on them, but we didn't get a chance too. I had to work at 2 different stores that day, and with their naptime, it didn't leave us a lot of time to do as much as I'd wanted to. We're still planning to make those cookies today before we leave for church this evening. They each got a new outfit or shirt, and a ton of candy and sweets. I didn't want to get them any little trinkets or toys until we sort & containerize what they already have. My mom, step-dad, & uncle had come down from NC the night before to visit a few days, so I think that made it special for them. My mom gave us all bears that play music &/or move and we went out for dinner later in the evening. Lil' Princess got a cute teddy bear, and LM got a bee bear. Here are the very few pics that I was able to snap.
I didn't get any pics of the kids in their new V-day duds before they got dirty, so once they've been washed, I'll get pics then. LP's outfit was really adorable with flowers on it, with hearts as the petals (scrapbook page inspiration), that said "Daddy Loves Me" and "Mommy Loves Me" on it. LM had a red T-shirt that said "Handsome Little Devil" on it with a pair of jeans. It was a long and exhausting weekend and I'm glad it's over, so I could enjoy a little break. V-day cards are now down and St. Patty's & Easter cards are up, so things have slowed down for me workwise. Monday we're starting a pre-school Bible curriculum to finish out the school year with. I'm changing things up a bit and diverting from the curriculum that we started with at the beginning of the school year, and will start it back up again in August. With the kids being sick, I wasn't able to re-start my "taking a pic a day" right after my birthday. Who really wants to take pics of sick kids or "tossed cookies", so to speak? Amongst all of the cleaning up, grabbing the camera to document that moment of time in our lives was the last thing on my mind. Believe me, if you're a mom, that's one memory you never lose. I'm just going to commit to doing my best to take as many pics as I can for the next year whether it's every day, or every other day. If it happens, great! If it doesn't, oh well.Sorry for such a long post, but I think I have you all caught up now. I'd love to hear about the last 3 weeks in your lives. Until later...everyone have a blessed day! :)
