tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28453896234129306232024-02-26T11:34:54.090-06:00Kadbury is... Thinking Out LoudJoin me as I stumble my way through DIY projects, awesome crafts, and raising three kids known as the BLT. Occasionally, I'll cook something. But generally I leave that up to my husband, the Master Chef, because he's never caught the kitchen on fire.Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-36833953890122628642012-09-19T09:35:00.000-05:002012-09-19T09:35:00.139-05:00Conversation {at the Park}<p><font size="3">Bitty: Mom, why don’t they want old people at this park?</font></p> <p><font size="3">Me: Er, I’m sure they don’t mind having older people here.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Bitty: But there’s a sign! It says No Old People.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Me: Where did you see this? How do you know it’s for old people?</font></p> <p><font size="3">Bitty: Because the guy in the picture is holding a cane…</font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-7M6Xm8VoROc/UFkvoK0WreI/AAAAAAAAB3g/5pG8h6fdLps/s1600-h/No%252520Hiking%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="No Hiking" border="0" alt="No Hiking" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-b9FLSjpAink/UFkvpQ341tI/AAAAAAAAB3o/QREU5_34Tfw/No%252520Hiking_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="644" height="482"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{I’ll let you decide: No Hiking Sign or No Old People Sign ; }</font></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px !important; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-53308537327907795632012-09-03T10:00:00.000-05:002012-09-03T10:53:14.533-05:00Quick, Easy and Gluten-Free…<p><font size="3">This is one of those ‘I found it on <a href="http://pinterest.com/kadburyis/">Pinterest</a>’ recipes that actually turned out the way it said it would. It’s also one of those recipes that didn’t require I look up what an ingredient is, and I like that in a recipe. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Side note: I do not make recipes that require that I figure out what an ingredient is.</font></p> <p><font size="3">What I love most about this recipe is that I usually have everything I need to make it just sitting in my kitchen:</font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzGq9xfgx417vQJO_pLTZdOAeJ-lhrAfT3jayIzBFW5cuAGP3jIpFm9pO3G4KwGekiyF8E9JGAWyu6k2az8szzR6sOZyjHYdxEMYScRuqIWhe5SJnccFxcA4w7EaUxowpOK0v475fLC3I-/s1600-h/Ingredients%25255B30%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Ingredients" border="0" alt="Ingredients" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-3tqU2vTnwa0/UEQkAEwdiRI/AAAAAAAAB2Q/ZzKXe69f9MA/Ingredients_thumb%25255B27%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="479" height="358"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{Important to note: While Quaker Oats seem to do fine for me, if you want truly gluten-free, try <a href="http://www.bobsredmill.com/oats/">Bob’s Red Mill</a>. They have awesome gluten-free stuff.}</font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3">Although the websites that I found this recipe on call them <a href="http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/05/skinny-chunky-monkey-cookies-recipe.html">Skinny Chunky Monkey Cookies</a> and <a href="http://onceamonthmom.com/skinny-monkey-cookies/">Skinny Monkey Cookies</a>, I call them Chocolate Blobs. I don’t even use chocolate, but that’s what they look like, so that’s what I’m sticking with. Let’s get to the recipe, shall we?</font></p> <p><font size="3">{EDITED: apparently mocha powder contains cocoa power, so Chocolate Blobs is pretty much right on the money. THE POWER OF THE GOOGLE, PEOPLE!}</font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj19ziQ4vccHDASOgP3-FFRQsu8vp5UYmyzXMqJ-0HUj7t7VVliPjEgWymBI4QCLgfkyNQfSppOPtJ1mYubePPp1lVxifwnI6-MiL2hbaxLDTHYir6U6CQNQt6SaK1pgUvf1aPDahw3FK0H/s1600-h/Kadbury-Recipe-Card%25255B38%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Kadbury-Recipe-Card" border="0" alt="Kadbury-Recipe-Card" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL_-Idzu6yKPBvnMz5AYEllvbGcV1rIXBr4VN4984-pgCMOtceD8HqvclsSVR7PGhAhTsb8Fvqnz3YLbYS03rXtxoNXx4jsm7-9yLxbsMMW7ApzFkLDPp_T9f-6raxu2v6DoWCl_8Un6v9/?imgmax=800" width="477" height="341"></a></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3">Now, here’s the thing to note: I love the ‘batter’ of this stuff. There have been several occasions where I really only made maybe eight little blobs, because that’s all that was left once I had finished munching on the raw batter. I REGRET NOTHING.</font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-XO0-bLPHOMY/UEQkDUQWi8I/AAAAAAAAB2o/Y6tYCTRwXFA/s1600-h/Precooked%252520Blobs%25255B17%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Precooked Blobs" border="0" alt="Precooked Blobs" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhND85LFV8qV3MK95rmAkT02aGxGKoH-62HfUNjmdVlxlP4xfBxwQuDbfq5yVG3VAGSWcmn-hlEYq5G1713YAo1Kc7TOHeczz6YI9m2KXKamoa3s_LNM_jN-GF7JmxYtSiuNL9eDdwM7TEX/?imgmax=800" width="479" height="358"></a></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3">Also, I <em>was</em> making tiny little bite-size blobs initially, but because they were so small I would end up eating ten of them. So, now I use a small ice cream scoop to measure them out and am good with eating just one as a snack. See how I fixed that?</font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-QXFdM3_fHWI/UEQkGQnt2jI/AAAAAAAAB24/5kfXpzI3AVQ/s1600-h/Finished%252520Blobs%25255B27%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Finished Blobs" border="0" alt="Finished Blobs" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9_inqaaQoJcxmgsBzfMcYpTDb-LwwDFd2gZxcE6mUhszoCqcyJnEs3oNEosYvEtPJz18COQF3U5ARSEJzDegmkF9hdwmvlb0zXq0CHQx241cIjVx7yF0vINLcAvB98NdJoRYEssQNXgAJ/?imgmax=800" width="479" height="358"></a></font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3">A few more things to note: These are really good straight out of the oven. After that, they should be refrigerated or frozen as they’re not terribly sweet. That’s not a bad thing necessarily, but seeing as I like things that are very sweet, I keep them frozen. Also, it makes them look a little bit like a meatball and when I don’t want to share it’s possible that I have told the kids that it was, in fact, a meatball.</font></p> <p><font size="3">That’s all there is to it. Quick to throw together and tasty to munch on. Enjoy!</font></p> <p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px !important; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a></p> <p> </p> <p>Special thanks to <a href="http://onceamonthmom.com/skinny-monkey-cookies/">Once A Month Mom</a> for sharing this recipe!</p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"> </div> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-36389810513891170702012-08-06T10:03:00.001-05:002012-08-06T10:49:26.395-05:00Camping…<p><font size="2"><font size="3">We currently have our tent set up in the backyard and I’m becoming concerned that it may be there for a <em>really</em> long time.</font> </font></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf_5cFL_Y-hTNtMNaw6_PDKNSLrxrJWBY0qida3JSGFmGznF66r-JpjQqRNlga2JNWlI2ZdhnzEpsnPpcSaKf3COIPaZg-n-y7JNfRePWQTrafwj_wKDTxy9KilG5xjEmJJgsPdAVevLmD/s1600-h/2012-08-03_15-45-11_584%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="2012-08-03_15-45-11_584" border="0" alt="2012-08-03_15-45-11_584" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-opaINhsQWOE/UB_nNHLEQaI/AAAAAAAAB10/W5yblCC1_8Y/2012-08-03_15-45-11_584_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="463" height="348"></a></p> <p><font size="3">The first night out, the BLT camped out together. Same thing the next night. I snuck out a few times to listen to them and could hear T Bub giving play-by-play of Doctor Who episodes. I guess those are the new ‘campfire stories’, and the girls were thoroughly engrossed, only asking questions every few minutes: </font></p> <p><font size="3">“Wait, why didn’t the Doctor just use the sonic screwdriver to open the door?”</font></p> <p><font size="3">“Because it doesn’t work on wood.”</font></p> <p><em><font size="3">Of course.</font></em></p> <p><font size="3">Now however, the kids are asking for <em>sleep overs</em> in the tent. They’ve been trying to work out a schedule of who can sleep in it on what nights and so forth. Which is great, but for one exception: Bitty. At six, Bitty has yet to have her first sleep over and I sure as heck am not having it in a tent. A six year old sleep over sounds like a whole lot of trouble, and a six year old sleep over IN A TENT sounds like a nightmare. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Here’s what I imagine a sleep over involving six years olds to be*: </font></p> <ul> <li><font size="3">Weeee’re Boooored! </font> <li><font size="3">I don’t want to play dress up again </font> <li><font size="3">I don’t want to play your Wii game again </font> <li><font size="3">Can I call my mom? </font> <li><font size="3">Can my mom pick me up? (at 2 AM) </font> <li><font size="3">*crying* </font> <li><font size="3">MOM! We’re Huuuuungry! </font> <li><font size="3">YOU SPILLED NAIL POLISH ALL OVER</font></li></ul> <p><font size="3">*this may not be a realistic representation of two six year olds having a sleep over, but what do I know.</font></p> <p><font size="3">So, I came up with a solution - I would sleep out in the tent with her. She wasn’t exactly jumping up and down in excitement at this news and frankly, I wasn’t all that excited either. While I love camping, I realize the part I love the most is the part where we <em>go</em> somewhere; sleeping in my backyard on a blowup bed is not my idea of a jolly good time. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Side Note: My use of the words ‘jolly good time’ show I’ve been spending too much time watching the London Olympics.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Thankfully for me, a thunderstorm blew in, the siren went off, and at midnight, I dragged Bitty back in the house where we could both sleep in our own beds. All was right with the world until Lovely L invited <em>another</em> friend to sleep over and we started this whole process all over again.</font></p> <p><font size="3">“WHY CAN’T I HAVE A SLEEPOVER IN THE TENT?”</font></p> <p><font size="3">*sigh* I guess I’ll be sleeping in the tent again ; )</font></p> <p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px !important; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-70937418382844835662012-06-06T10:49:00.000-05:002012-06-06T10:53:50.527-05:00Parenting Moments: F is for Fail…<p><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><font size="3"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-O4wjP7VEixk/T898IXvQG1I/AAAAAAAABs4/oujXz9lzm04/s1600-h/FAILED3.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="FAILED" border="0" alt="FAILED" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1vOT3GvCzOTRxr47I-IFq6l8onGOFL1-XcZA4aYsWOtTlCd-51QGyRgZFZEc0v0bjo29xwkDlvHh_Z5kMocyfU1ZC9SFdItume4yzH128ZsuhnxnwZPF1KgYAyxzC_3w25HCEMxjD2vs/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="200"></a></font></p> <p><font size="3">I think I must be doing this wrong. Somewhere along the line, I missed out on some essential child-rearing information; maybe I lost the manual…</font></p> <p><font size="3">Okay, okay. But if there had been a manual, I <em>would</em> have lost it.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Every day, my seriously awesome and adorable children come home from school and I pull up their daily school report thingy. It tells us what grades they got on what and if there are any missing assignments still outstanding.</font></p> <p><font size="3">And this is when I start to feel twitchy.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-N4bJcJ-Wcuo/T899COe9CmI/AAAAAAAABtY/5_yu8KAL2l0/s1600-h/missingschoolwork%25255B5%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="missingschoolwork" border="0" alt="missingschoolwork" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-gyNCnhIKmqc/T899DAFSm0I/AAAAAAAABtg/JT4yq6m-HMM/missingschoolwork_thumb%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="619" height="386"></a></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>‘Why is this still showing as missing?’</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3">‘I don’t know. Maybe the teacher forgot to enter it in?’</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>‘REALLY?’</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3">‘Er. I don’t think I turned it in’</font></p> <p><font size="3"><em>Frustration starts to set in.</em> </font></p> <p><strong><font size="3">‘</font><font size="3">This one is STILL missing?!? It’s from March!’</font></strong></p> <p><font size="3">‘I finished that. But I don’t remember if I turned it in either.’</font></p> <p><font size="3">At some point in this process, I become completely amazed that I haven’t pulled all of my hair out. Or thrown something. Which only happened once, scared the bejezus out of both myself and the kid, and left me with an underlying guilt concerning books and how they’re not known for their flying ability.</font></p> <p><font size="3">It’s also at this point that I begin to feel that somewhere, somehow, I have failed to teach these kids how to be successful in school, which in turn will lead to their failure at adult life, and that in twenty years, I’ll find them living in a van down by the river.</font></p> <p><font size="3">I guess I assumed that if MC and I always made school a priority, that the kids would too. Not the case, as I’m finding out. </font><font size="3">But maybe that’s okay… no, really! </font></p> <p><font size="3">Because it makes me have to look at my kids as a whole and not just the reflection of their grades, I have found some really amazing qualities that I might not have noticed otherwise. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Also, I might just be saying that to make myself feel better about this situation. </font></p> <p><font size="3">How do you feel when your kids don’t perform to your expectations? Or perhaps this only happens to my kids… </font></p> <p><font size="3">(sigh)</font></p> <p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px !important; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-77631129591073825142012-05-02T10:01:00.000-05:002012-05-02T10:01:10.386-05:00Not Really An Update…<p><font size="3">Bitty is doing pretty well with Simon* and even reminds me to put it back on her in the morning. </font></p> <p><font size="3">*the heart monitor. Yes, she named it.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ltGPr7imSZA/T6FFrZ-JGJI/AAAAAAAABrY/zKF_ImoKzCA/s1600-h/BelleSimon%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="BelleSimon" border="0" alt="BelleSimon" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Ou5jR_rFHsg/T6FFr_D8T1I/AAAAAAAABrg/PC-uD_qA7Ls/BelleSimon_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="455" height="339"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{Bitty & Simon}</font></p> <p><font size="3">She does come straight home and try to take it off, but she’s supposed to wear it until bedtime; it only takes a little bit of convincing (read: candy) to get her to snap it back on. The little stickies that hold the electrodes onto her chest irritate her skin and leave little red circles. I know that’s what’s bothering her about wearing it so I let her keep it off last weekend. (Bad parent, I know…)</font></p> <p><font size="3">Funny story: I took Bitty to the birthday party of a friend from school last Saturday. When the other little girls at the party saw her, they yelled ‘Bionic Bitty!’ (Okay, they did not yell Bitty; they yelled her real name. No, Bitty is not her real name ; ) Calling her Bionic B--- is how we convinced her that wearing this monitor would be <em>cool – </em>I guess it worked.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Anywho, here’s the information that I currently have: so far the monitor has only caught what the lady at the U* called ‘sinus tachycardia’, which I think is just a fancy name for ‘elevated heart rate’. </font></p> <p><font size="3">*that’s local speak for the University of Minnesota. Bitty is being seen at their pediatric cardiology specialists office.</font></p> <p><font size="3">A normal ‘resting’ heart rate for a child her age is around 75-115. When Bitty is pushing the button on the monitor, it’s catching a heart rate of 150 to 160. Sometimes. Because other times, it’s only reading 102 and I think she just wants to go sit in Nurse A’s office. Because Bitty thinks Nurse A is the bomb diggity and she has a white board in there that Bitty draws pretty pictures on. </font></p> <p><font size="3">The way it was explained to me is that the cardiologist is looking for a heart rate above 200; that is what they described as SVT. I don’t think they’ve caught anything that high on the monitor, although we’ll have to address why she’s having a resting rate of 150-160 at some point in this process.</font></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNM-6wrg1ttS-N9NivxaElFvr0A4KCjIHrlp082O2WnpgrG-20Gxzk3p6nT-FjKih0Lfz0yya8lNXeW60_7z_XhxEAakhaWGJmEsPqZIQYKhb6iHCXQJef_Z-7pX7-HCi8ZOqkjtGFBUyb/s1600-h/simon2%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="simon2" border="0" alt="simon2" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-xsgbhUzr_hc/T6FFtdvfITI/AAAAAAAABrw/YMOUbst1ZQs/simon2_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="353" height="473"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{Mom! Take my picture like this!}</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">That’s really all the information I have right now. We will meet with her Dr. soon to discuss the results of monitor and to see what we do next</font><font size="3">…</font></p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px !important; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-71761525537085402642012-04-09T08:46:00.000-05:002012-04-09T08:46:00.556-05:00How We Got Here…<p><font size="3">Bitty is dealing pretty well with the event monitor that she has to wear. She’s only required to wear it while she’s awake, although the other night it was beating so quickly that it woke her up; I groggily awoke to a high pitched gurgling/whimpering noise. I almost took out my nightstand in my frantic attempt to get to her, then scooped her up and held her until she fell back asleep. It took me a long time to work up to leaving her room, but I needed to go downstairs and tell MC what had happened.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Thankfully though, that doesn’t seem to be the norm.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-_o_61XbnjLU/T4HKgB7IkgI/AAAAAAAABqk/LPL16qj_kEU/s1600-h/AtTheUofM%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="AtTheUofM" border="0" alt="AtTheUofM" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-X8J9PVOJdTI/T4HKg5srGrI/AAAAAAAABqs/UNyw3Kx6w-I/AtTheUofM_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="358" height="486"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{Getting the monitor} </font></p> <p><font size="3">She cried when I asked her to attach the leads (the wires that connect to the monitor) to the electrodes stuck on her chest this morning though. So far we haven’t caught an event, due to the fact that most of the time it’s almost impossible for the adults to tell when it’s happening. She definitely knows, but she’s so busy that she doesn’t take the time to tell us, or even to push the button on the monitor herself. We only find out later that day, when we’re asking the questions about ‘crazy heart’ (her words) that she realizes she forgot to tell someone.</font></p> <p><font size="3">But back to the subject at hand: How did we wind up with a six year old wearing a heart monitor?</font></p> <p><font size="3">We were packing for our spring break trip down to Arizona and I realized Bitty had been a little under the weather. Runny nose, tired and a tummy ache, but no fever or vomiting. I packed her off to school and realized that if she <em>did</em> have something more than a cold and we had to take her to an urgent care down south, our insurance would blast us with some ridiculous ‘out of range’ fee. So, in the interest of her health and our financial security, I made an appointment to check for what I thought could possibly be strep.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The nurse did the quick strep test and then the Dr. came in to check her over. He went to listen to her lungs and immediately sat back, looked at me and said, ‘so, how long has <em>that</em> been going on?’</font></p> <p><font size="3">It was when Bitty answered and said, ‘Oh that happens all the time!’, that I sheepishly had to admit that I had felt it once before. </font><font size="3">I left the pediatrician’s with a script for an antibiotic (the strep test was positive) and instructions to get an EKG. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Side note: why do I most often see the abbreviation as EKG, when the test is an electrocardiogram? Granted EKG is easier to say than ECG, which sounds like you’re sneezing if said too quickly…</font></p> <p><font size="3">So right now, we sit in a kind of holding pattern while we wait to figure out what’s going on. Is this SVT? Will it go away on its own? I don’t have any answers right now, and that is more frustrating than anything; some kind of diagnosis would as least lead to some kind of <em>known action</em> on our part, instead of this standing around feeling useless, and sometimes, helpless.</font></p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a> <p>Philippians 4:6</p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-27446812946160557372012-04-05T17:18:00.001-05:002012-04-05T17:18:32.943-05:00What We Know…<p><font size="3">Bitty is being tested for SVT, or supraventricular tachycardia. What we know is that she is experiencing an extremely rapid heart rate that seems to have no immediate (external) cause. The good news is that it really doesn’t seem to bother her, although occasionally it makes her dizzy* enough that she needs to sit down. </font></p> <p><font size="3">*When the heart is beating that quickly, it’s not pumping oxygenated blood effectively throughout the body. The dizziness is a result of that brief lack of oxygen. Think of the feeling you get when you’re blowing up a balloon; it’s like that.</font></p> <p><font size="3">She was fitted with an ‘Event Monitor’ yesterday; it will record an episode when she pushes a button. The monitor consists of two sticky pads that attach on either side of her chest and the monitor itself – a small round piece of plastic with two buttons – one to record an ‘event’ (the rapid heart rate), and one to send the information at the end of the day. I have a feeling that the company that receives this info is going to get pretty irate at us pretty fast, as Bitty seems to press the send button every time she plays. </font></p> <p><font size="3">It’s hard to look at this kid and say there’s anything wrong; she looks perfectly happy:</font></p> <p><font size="3"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-K6_kDx6bd8U/T34aMCju5SI/AAAAAAAABqA/cc7sYyZZQ9Q/s1600-h/BittyUnicorn%25255B32%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="BittyUnicorn" border="0" alt="BittyUnicorn" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-hq_WkIDIhmY/T34aNaFvDPI/AAAAAAAABqI/Mye2Gl8h7sg/BittyUnicorn_thumb%25255B30%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="486" height="362"></a></font></p> <p> </p> <p><font size="3">Well, I take that back. She is pretty much fed up with the monitor already; it is impeding her play time and that’s important when you’re six. </font></p> <p><font size="3">The plan is for her to wear the monitor for 30 days in the hopes of catching the rapid heart rate. However, there’s a chance that if she has quite a few episodes sooner than that, she won’t have to continue to wear it the full 30 days. So… if it’s going to happen, we’re hoping for sooner rather than later; she keeps begging for me to take it off of her, and I don’t know what to say to convince her to keep it on without scaring her. Right now I’m sticking with, ‘you NEED to keep it on’ and some, ‘because I said so’. </font></p> <p><font size="3">That’s all I’ve got for now – thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers.</font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px !important; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a> <p>Philippians 4:6</p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-50698566878769906202012-04-04T18:39:00.000-05:002012-04-04T18:40:22.670-05:00A Few Selfish Sentences…<p><font size="3">I am supposed to be cleaning all the junk that’s lying around our house, leftovers from our recent trip to Arizona. But nothing is done and I’m still in my pajamas at 11 am. </font></p> <p><font size="3">{I spent an hour last night picking out Bitty’s outfit for today}</font></p> <p><font size="3">As long as I was pretending to be some expert, easily spouting out medical terminology and assuring everyone that this<em> thing </em>is really <em>nothing</em>, just a little thing to get mended up… I was fine. </font></p> <p><font size="3">{It seemed incredibly important to me that she look her absolute cutest for this appointment}</font></p> <p><font size="3">But yesterday, I realized how scared I was. When she came to me, told me ‘it’s happening again’, and I picked her up and felt the frantic beating of her heart… I wanted to hold her close and squeeze her and never let go… but I set her down and told her to go rest until it stopped. </font></p> <p><font size="3">{I tore apart all her bins until I found the matching hair bow}</font></p> <p><font size="3">Because I can feel it when I’m holding her. And it feels like it’s beating out of her chest. And that… makes it very, very real. And suddenly, I am selfishly wishing this wasn’t happening to her and that I didn’t have to be so worried. </font></p> <p> </p> <p><font size="3"></font></p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px !important; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a> <p><font face="Garamond">Philippians 4:6</font></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-90117871774446448372012-02-24T12:47:00.001-06:002012-02-24T12:48:40.339-06:00Conversation in My Home…<p><font size="3">MC and I took the BLT to see We Bought A Zoo awhile back. In one of the first scenes, Matt Damon’s character is talking to his son.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Matt Damon To Son: You got an F! An F!!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">Bitty: Why is his dad mad that he got an F?</font></p> <p><font size="3">Me: It’s not a good thing. It’s the worst grade you can get.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Bitty: OH! But mom, I wanted an F. I thought it meant Fabulous!</font></p> <p><font size="3">Me: And what about now?</font></p> <p><font size="3">Bitty: No, I think I will stick with not being fabulous then.</font></p> <p><font size="3">: D</font></p> <p><font size="3"></font></p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-25010304263686521992012-02-06T09:13:00.000-06:002012-02-06T09:13:45.015-06:00Gifted and Talented…<p><font size="3">There is something that has really been bothering me lately, and I thought I’d share here on my little space on the internets. Deep Breath… and here I go.</font></p> <p><font size="3">I have a problem. Recently, I have heard from people I know and people I barely know about how awesome their kid(s) are. That’s great. Be glad your kid is awesome, it’s your right as a parent. </font></p> <p><font size="3">But I'm tired of hearing how awesome your ‘gifted’ child is. I’m tired of hearing how proud you are that they were chosen to be in their school’s gifted and talented program. Actually, I’m not tired of it… I’m really rather angry.</font></p> <p><font size="3">I have three amazing kids, as most of you know. I have one daughter that reads at an eighth grade level and one that reads at a third grade level. Should I be be more proud of Bitty who, because of her reading skills, gets to attend ‘enrichment activities’ and is pulled out of her class to do higher level reading than her first grade peers? </font></p> <p><font size="3">Because, if I’m being completely honest here… I had nothing to do with her extraordinary reading skills. <font size="3">In fact, there is nothing Bitty did to reach that level of reading, either. </font>I taught her to read the same way I did with my older two and whatever God-given skills she has are inherent to her, she only enhances them with her go-gettem attitude. </font></p> <p><font size="3">That brings me to Lovely L… a girl who is in her school’s ‘reading help’ class because she has always struggled with reading and writing. This is a child who will never be in any schools’ gifted and talented program. And guess what? That’s okay. Because this is also a girl who has worked her rear off to get to the level of reading that she’s at today. I am no more or less proud of either of my girls for what programs they may be in. </font></p> <p><font size="3">My point? I think pointing out how ‘gifted’ your child is belittles and unintentionally hurts other children, who through no fault of their own, will never be that ‘gifted and talented’ child. </font></p> <p><font size="3">That’s not to say you shouldn’t be proud of your child’s accomplishments. By all means, be proud! But in doing a shout out on the internets, can you please refrain from letting everyone know how ‘gifted’ your child is? Because, chances are, you (and your child) had nothing to do with do with getting them there. God or (if you don’t believe in God) genetics did.</font></p> <p><font size="3">And because I’ve never ranted before (at least here on the blog ; ) and I’m feeling bad about it, here’s a picture of some penguins:</font></p> <p><font size="3"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-eaiS15sl4Gk/TylbvUq3o-I/AAAAAAAABiA/kcheMwWrH4s/s1600-h/Penguins%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Penguins" border="0" alt="Penguins" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-C2Ciae9dbdE/Tylbv6rtkfI/AAAAAAAABiI/L-MbTvZyEao/Penguins_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304"></a></font></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{Penguins are awesome}</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Obviously, the middle penguin is telling the other two penguins that his chick just got accepted into the Gifted Penguin Program for Exceptional Chicks, and the other two are kind of offended.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Rant over…</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">But what do <em>you</em> think? Am I being overly sensitive?</font></p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px !important; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-86579267561366305722012-02-01T09:41:00.001-06:002012-02-01T09:41:50.400-06:00Wordless Wednesday: Bitty’s Tooth… <p> </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/--aeQ4Qf4NPs/TyldO_fMuAI/AAAAAAAABiQ/i0LMFbkNqmc/s1600-h/firsttooth%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="firsttooth" border="0" alt="firsttooth" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-OT5WPmfZo-k/TyldPSQEDCI/AAAAAAAABiY/M73BF9bub14/firsttooth_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="400" height="298"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{The tooth fairy gave her two dollars for her very first lost tooth!}</font></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px !important; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-21163161900117140262012-01-31T08:51:00.000-06:002012-01-31T08:51:59.906-06:00Guest Post…<p><font size="3">I was invited to share a favorite recipe over at <a href="http://www.toysinthedryer.com/">Toys In The Dryer</a> and I picked one that you might remember… </font></p> <p><font size="3">Guess you’ll just have to <a href="http://www.toysinthedryer.com/2012/01/guest-post-monkey-bread.html">head over</a> to see what it is!</font></p> <p><font size="3">(I know, I know… two posts in two days… wait, does this actually count as a post? Technically, I <em>am</em> writing and posting to my blog, but there’s not any real content here… well, except now there is. Kinda. I not sure if I want to count this rambling as a post… Maybe I should quit while I’m ahead ; )</font></p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-55025733222814347982012-01-30T10:31:00.001-06:002012-01-30T10:31:35.414-06:00Thinking Out Loud…<h3>About school:</h3> <p><font size="3">Frankly, it’s crazy how much I love it. There are people I look forward to seeing in class, although I hesitate to call them friends since most of them are half my age. I don’t know if that’s right or not… but it’s the truth. Perhaps it’s okay that we get to be friends at school, and that’s where it stays. At any rate, they’re all good people and maybe that’s all that matters.</font></p> <p><font size="3">I am still working my butt off to keep straight A’s, although I almost derailed myself this semester by purchasing the wrong book for a class. That mistake lead to two failed quizzes in a marketing class. ARGH. </font><font size="3">Yes. It took two failed quizzes for me to realize that I didn’t have the correct materials; before that I had been operating under the belief that maybe I just didn’t understand marketing. </font></p> <h3> </h3> <h3>About the BLT:</h3> <p><font size="3">Can I tell you that my kids are driving me batty? I know why – they’re taking advantage of my distractedness. Basically it’s like this: the more I concentrate on my homework, the more they realize they can get away with not doing whatever they should be doing. We have a working system for after school and I had thought it would just be habit for them to continue doing it… yeah, not so much.</font></p> <p><font size="3">T Bub and Lovely L tried out for the school play recently. T Bub made it and Lovely L did not. Not that she wouldn’t be an excellent actress (trust me, with all the drama we have, she'd make an incredible actress), but tryouts require that you do a reading… and reading is something Lovely L struggles with. Although she loves reading books and does so whenever she can sneak away with her Kindle, she still reads at about a third grade level and cannot sound out words phonetically. I’ve spent every summer working with her, but I think it’s time that I admit that whatever is going on with her reading (and writing… she can’t seem to grasp certain concepts, like where - we’re – were) is beyond my ability to help her.</font></p> <p><font size="3">And Bitty B? Well, she’s decided that besides soccer and curling, she also wants to play hockey, go back to dance class and be in a play. Really? Is that all?</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-RWwCS_5LZFQ/TybF5LtF1UI/AAAAAAAABhw/a5Mx0SynPMo/s1600-h/kidscurlingredo%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="kidscurlingredo" border="0" alt="kidscurlingredo" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNl4XsjwARKES3xFsAy-YuKlVPyGuECHqToHz3Ve8ZLUbqiY58PgzW1e96c9ss6fTyvWP9suUDPCLl6xCy2SXgaLCngnDy17tmlBWRaM2KMJuFztcLN307emBkYkkRArIycMNuBnxKmHsq/?imgmax=800" width="343" height="454"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{Curling practice}</font></p> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <h3>About eating everything in sight:</h3> <p><font size="3">Yeah, I’ve gotta stop that. But why does it have to taste so, so good? Darn you, Nutty Bars, darn you to heck! </font></p> <p><font size="3">Side note: I actually typed in Nutty Buddy, but that didn’t sound right. So I went to the Google where I learned two things: 1. A Nutty Buddy is the chocolate topped ice cream cone that I also love and 2. an athletic supporter. Yep. </font></p> <h3> </h3> <h3>About blogging: </h3> <p><font size="3">There are at least five times a day that I think, ‘ohmygosh, I have to write about that!’ But, first comes home stuff, kid stuff, school stuff, business stuff (YES… and I’ll have to write about that later!) and by then I’ve run out of time for blogging stuff. I realize this is just a season in my life right now, and have no plans to stop blogging, but I also realize that I have to keep my priorities straight and my goals in sight. </font></p> <p><font size="3">And as I wrote that, the buzzer on the dryer went off. Sigh…</font></p> <p><font size="3">Yep, priorities include laundry ; ).</font></p> <p><font size="3">Until next time, </font></p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-67546480862444650542011-12-28T17:13:00.000-06:002011-12-28T17:13:11.681-06:00The School Report...One big, fat semester down. Three more to go.<br />
<br />
And I gotta tell ya, I am stoked. For the very first time - as in First Time Ever...<br />
I got all A's.<br />
<br />
And I gotta tell ya, it kind of blew my mind a little bit. Okay. It TOTALLY Blew. My. Mind.<br />
Amazing.<br />
<br />
And I gotta tell ya, I'm not sure how I did it. But I know I am going to try to do it again. And again. And again.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png" style="border: 0px currentColor !important;" /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-54659584205160639942011-11-17T18:30:00.001-06:002011-11-21T19:00:18.873-06:00Five Things I Will Never Do…<p><font size="3">When you are younger, you are told (and believe) that you can do anything. But <em><font size="4">I </font></em>know the truth. Here are five things I thought I would do when I got older, that I will now never be able to do:</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>1. Marry a young Paul McCartney</strong>. Granted, this was a long shot even when I dreamt it up, because by that time, Paul was already fifty years old. That, however, did not stop me from dreaming of the day I would walk up the isle with a 20-something Paul McCartney. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Now that I’m older I know that Paul only marries blondes or women of wealth. Also, he’s currently 64 and the time travel machine I imagined would be built by now is nowhere in sight. So… Marrying (young) Paul McCartney is out.</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>2. Live the single life in a trendy apartment in the big city.</strong> Clearly I’m still happily married to MC, so the single part is out. And now that I’m firmly settled into the ‘burbs, I can’t imagine not having my yard. </font></p> <p><font size="3">But the biggest thing I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older: I’m very territorial. I don’t think I could handle people walking down the hallway of my trendy uptown pad and <em>touching</em> my door. It’s MY door! I only want people I<em> know</em> touching my door! And just anybody walking down the hallway to their own trendy uptown apartment could walk by and slap their mitts on my door… IT’S MINE! QUIT TOUCHING IT!</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>3. Be the pilot of a commercial airliner. </strong>I did at one time desperately believe I wanted to be a pilot. But I was never meant to be a pilot, and this point was driven home on a recent flight I made with T Bub and Lovely L. As the plane taxied down the runway, I held Lovely L’s hand so she wouldn’t be nervous and asked T Bub what every single noise the plane made was. And we hadn’t even gotten off the ground yet. </font></p> <p><font size="3">As the plane revved it’s engines in preparation for takeoff, Lovely L, who’s hand I was now crushing in a death-grip of motherly love, had an idea. She leaned over to T Bub and said, ‘we have to get this plane off the ground! Help me pat!’ If you’ve never seen an episode of Little Einsteins, this will make no sense to you. But my 11 and 13 year old ‘pat, pat, pat, pat, patted’ the plane into the air so I would quit being terrified by the plane taking off. (Yes, it helped. I was laughing hysterically by the time we were in the air.) </font></p> <p><font size="3">Because it doesn’t matter how many times it’s explained to me, I will never comprehend the physics of how that thing gets and stays in the air.</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>4. Win a metal in the Olympics.</strong> Note how I didn’t say win a ‘gold metal’. I had long ago decided that just winning a metal would be good enough for me. Once I won, I would wear my metal around to family events and tell funny stories of my time spent in the Olympic Village. </font></p> <p><font size="3">However, there was one minor setback in my journey to the Olympics. I was not actually good at any single sport. And by not very good, I mean astoundingly bad. I figured I would probably have to settle for a winter sport like the luge that didn’t seem to require much coordination. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Now that I’m older, I realize it would take all of about three seconds before I crashed the luge sled thing and possibly killed myself. Since I don’t think a metal (gold or not) is worth my death and I’m not speedy or coordinated enough for any other sport… the Olympics is definitely not going to happen. </font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>5. Have two sets of identical twins. Maybe more.</strong> Yeah. That’s not gonna happen. We’re done here…</font></p> <p><font size="3">No, really. I mean it. ; )</font></p> <p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-7377521506867640702011-11-03T14:45:00.000-05:002011-11-03T14:45:00.351-05:00Cake Decorating, Or Something Like It…<p><font size="3">Awhile back, I needed to make a cake for a friend. The plan was that MC was going to take it tailgating at the University of Minnesota Gophers football game.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The problem was, I has no ideas. Nothing. The cake was baked and I stared intently at its bare rectangular form and cursed it silently in my head. Finally, I went to the Twitter and threw a shout out that said something to the effect of ‘HELP’. </font></p> <p><font size="3">And help arrived in the form of <a href="http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/">Marie from Celebration Generation</a>. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Her instructions were easy enough – go find a picture of whatever I needed (in this case, Goldy Gopher, the U of M mascot) and print it out. I was once again out of printer ink, so I sketched out Goldy, and cut out an outline to set on top of my cake. I used a sharp knife and slowly cut around the outline of my template:</font></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjGkFhzLazHbWZ0UOQygb90Pfzh6Q_21iOxeLEsbTxtcFz5nQ3KztM0Y8_h74rmTsJ4k5BA6WIZrhxKVgIfpoQ-LIPAJixsqBTcaXKuaNcFe1TY2pC3MloXASnw4BHHkPdx58_CIOIzxD7/s1600-h/0014.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="001" border="0" alt="001" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-KKyaArMHnwQ/TrGlcw_8khI/AAAAAAAABb4/j1mL4yAwx5M/001_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="454" height="342"></a></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo_RjSagFNqYCPcc3dJA4jSU86RKF82rV7U8t2p5cSj-ySCtfxy1WIzthUKzufjxYz6nYSi73aRtkyWc4sY0SWljeGma-qWmgFQ90u0HQwUnJK3aBUiAULc3B9A4I-OGrIMgj0G2h_gyHo/s1600-h/0024.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="002" border="0" alt="002" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-W8_4HY9tKh8/TrGleqkyKOI/AAAAAAAABcI/ZQafYjkWD_U/002_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="454" height="342"></a></p> <p><font size="3">Since one of Bitty’s favorite shows is Cake Boss, I knew my next step was to ‘dirty ice’ the cake. I had put the cake in the fridge uncovered for an hour or so after I cut it out. This firms up the cake and makes it a little less crumbly. Then I threw a huge plop of my frosting on top and covered the entire cake:</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-TRnxz6y9_90/TrGlgDAY1PI/AAAAAAAABcQ/_F8RmFhm9gA/s1600-h/0064.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="006" border="0" alt="006" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4yN7SccsaodG6DYEAOfRtchQKXAl1Th9F8NQ2xo4Va5CUYnwXlQdj4jrntWTi8BzFxFYpJhrRuY9V87O1e1Rlad1VOqbWs8QDQIH9H-hSfVDBQcdHc0kfpyXN8S_0GWh_SX32oidKCkm/?imgmax=800" width="454" height="342"></a> </p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{It doesn’t matter if crumbs get in the frosting, they will be covered in the </font><font size="3">final coating of frosting.}</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Next, you’ll need some wax paper. Although I didn’t know it yet, this is where the whole thing blew up. Marie’s instructions were quite simple but I didn’t remember this step… and it’s kind of crucial. </font></p> <p align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJrCRXpBHRDVFTfPtAl1gjVwc2NSXzTB_46I_8DAJmgilU3Ru31RuFa5RbCtePeFGevmgrGAI84V9nuqRDU55es55mSObugBskUlakjHhUIWXzlacfm6PAnLbG65KfMWTrZCafwzxkUjl/s1600-h/0074.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="007" border="0" alt="007" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZb3rn2koUJgA3VkWrYjYuluFPOCwkOqgoXJ-LTazSs67QXHDf6wTGBbC6S3lp3Ab7pOa-mJR5WyuiitBHeWq64UKPrEt_bP7xGAXohrfIlknHXia6GFPDmT1FJwOejioAPtI65k4-emc-/?imgmax=800" width="454" height="342"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{Place wax paper over your printed picture}</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Since I had cut out the shape on my cake, I needed to <em>reverse</em> my picture so when I flipped the designed gopher head onto my cake, it would be facing the right way. Hang with me for a minute and I’ll come back to this; I know it sounds confusing…</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Also, since I am not a professional, I did not have the tips and sqeezy bag decorating thing. So I improvised:</font></p> <p align="left"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-1YqDbrh04Ko/TrGljSrzaJI/AAAAAAAABcw/jOFNe5Yps5Y/s1600-h/0094.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="009" border="0" alt="009" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwVyPqhBSfFoRTgNwCM0sXgzXK_lSzLpCKYVSwGouVp5mwZi4aafx8Uz3-a5gL-wwJ9SkK0jFDhAUaKIKXJOmtnm966vHfn3A8Z2gUS0LLCyoCFaKyHv4OiC9RHSFu3UdCmNBgZfIWq5pR/?imgmax=800" width="454" height="342"></a></p> <p><font size="3">I scooped my frosting into a zip lock bag and squeezed it all into one corner of the bag, trying my best to make sure there were no air bubbles in the frosting. Then I cut a small hole in the corner of the bag. All I needed to do now was trace the outline of my printout with the icing: </font></p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-40ueS_v0juQ/TrGlk_mTO2I/AAAAAAAABdA/LV4tvB_o4tE/s1600-h/0134.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="013" border="0" alt="013" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Q1kbIfNEWlM/TrGllRKY9wI/AAAAAAAABdI/Jn5OOsxO6LY/013_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="454" height="342"></a> <p><font size="3">Once the outline is done, place your creation in the freezer and let it harden. Then you can fill in your outline with whatever colors you need. For Goldy I would have used brown for his face and white for his teeth and eyes. After piping the other colors in, place it back in the freezer until it’s completely hardened. When it’s ready you would just flip it over on top of your cake and bang! you look like a professional baker. </font></p> <p><font size="3">However, since I didn’t make a mirror image of my picture, I would not have been able to flip the frozen creation on top of my cake. It would have been backwards, dagnabit. If I</font><font size="3"> had just left the cake as a rectangle, instead of cutting out the shape, it would have turned out just fine. </font></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-rWD7T3ddSjA/TrGlmnud97I/AAAAAAAABdQ/o1TfJDg50hA/s1600-h/0194.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="019" border="0" alt="019" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWBt7MVr9Cuu3Xk9VUQmB2QfXCE4CxZPUV8E0pT1mu0t1YT_lH-uNgoVmNSvpf72jDhKfywtyZTHBSEBHpUPaOVKbg3qfU_d6zsqDg7CE0UMnuq0gcOMWQr7gPcM0bTvsxQC4VkieX0_KY/?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304"></a></p> <p><font size="3">Of course, you could just head over to <a href="http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/2011/10/10/cake-decorating-tutorial-frozen-buttercream-transfers/">Celebration Generation</a>. Marie has these instructions, but better because she’s an actual, real life baker. Go ahead. Check out her awesomeness. You know you want to. ;* )</font></p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-69823165905302269802011-11-01T23:42:00.001-05:002011-11-01T23:51:06.529-05:00Wordless Wednesday: The View From Here…<p> </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSOoR_gYgRCdjnUsCDRl7LO2TDHimIX26Dgm3mfeesAFu1veNX_hXgcOLzhhUg610_Ru4m2FG26lcc3NIgZKigPs9HdlSdGy14lWRc0Hj8qD0IKYUkHiA93bKjud9IlgYq82lVW5u-tRkT/s1600-h/147%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="147" border="0" alt="147" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-VejY6sRD1PY/TrDKP0Z14bI/AAAAAAAABbY/AS5CIMEi4ws/147_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="454" height="342"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{Flying over northern Arizona}</font></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-LhzQrtjz6xo/TrDKQ27x44I/AAAAAAAABbg/t1GJqM7g_CQ/s1600-h/148%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="148" border="0" alt="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIMADT4gBUSpCdVeS7SfAJkUnHgxWCtlkcmbWt2aEl7eXzmqxg_-Ajbiub9EJnH7i4wD6VqMZ1ngaptLLUuo_mMD2-JxTm_hD_AJ2CpC2Jf3Ps9L7dfTlZAh-OKL660Z7NBv5oKvDurJbu/?imgmax=800" width="454" height="342"></a></p> <p><font size="3">There were two interesting things about this flight. Firstly, this plane was just a baby: it was a brand, spanking new, one month old A321. It still had the manufacturer’s labels on the individual pieces of the engine and wing. The second was that another plane flew by right above the wing and I got to see the slipstream… It was so cool that I was left speechless and couldn’t take my eyes away to even grab my camera that was sitting on my lap. </font></p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-36425210765242530902011-10-31T15:12:00.001-05:002011-10-31T15:12:14.364-05:00Happy Halloween…<p><font size="3"></font></p> <p align="center"><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-B1EJC_jMpjQ/Tq8BAibEPBI/AAAAAAAABaQ/qPEXgeU4HrI/s1600-h/0404.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="040" border="0" alt="040" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWWdqLuymSbponO4BeWE_99IvDcjSzZq3-bUqUkD79BcI44N6n454CJ1y-f0RmX3Mcn4N64D23OrLCYtH4A4qYsem9FGwOS3FrkqUlu6OSRrn79il8ACP3kqgIvt15Y3ei9fh5gpKrhO07/?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3"><font size="3">From Princess Peacock</font></font></p> <p align="center"><font size="3"></font> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-uZyXi5jinMI/Tq8BB5JZThI/AAAAAAAABag/0Z2t02OTRh8/s1600-h/Halloween%252520004%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Halloween 004" border="0" alt="Halloween 004" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-YO5xR-X2DvY/Tq8BCV6cDpI/AAAAAAAABao/vjLm_xs7rvI/Halloween%252520004_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="359" height="404"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">Buddy Holly,</font></p> <p>!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin5qyOTMYWS266Clw8LLVuD1dV1AKKtBN2_2M9KKl9ZqQs9LmOarLIBpzNllPVkiq5PqVB9yjLIlo3Y9dsXxelrugUzeLrRh3R0KMS3-YrtGDJhq9oFIz6EkXxyZRUtsoVj75CDw6t1jvb/s1600-h/Halloween%252520030%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Halloween 030" border="0" alt="Halloween 030" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-G66nOTMm3Is/Tq8BEINBd4I/AAAAAAAABa4/cYbkJnaDBQQ/Halloween%252520030_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="347" height="404"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">and Goldy Gopher : )</font></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-CGdbLPaguuo/Tq8BG8pAGzI/AAAAAAAABbA/O03FhEXrR6Q/s1600-h/Halloween-0094.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Halloween 009" border="0" alt="Halloween 009" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-pTe1DfZGBys/Tq8BHWr-qbI/AAAAAAAABbI/M3Ka_O4wyMg/Halloween-009_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{Halloween 2010}</font></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">Have a safe and happy Halloween!</font></p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-91419742051991274702011-10-27T19:30:00.001-05:002011-10-27T19:35:44.509-05:00Pumpkin Carving 101…<p align="left"><font size="3">One year, in an attempt to surprise MC with my awesomeness, I decided to carve him a Minnesota Vikings pumpkin. The fact that the Vikings were doing poorly and we lived in Arizona did nothing to deter me. </font></p> <p><font size="3"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-c29_WL9YoFY/Tqn3jlU5SxI/AAAAAAAABY4/dptFKPGXt6o/s1600-h/MNVikingsPumpkin3.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="MNVikingsPumpkin" border="0" alt="MNVikingsPumpkin" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-XjJ_dwZsywg/Tqn3kAl8J_I/AAAAAAAABZA/YiMuTebpGw0/MNVikingsPumpkin_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="346" height="404"></a></font></p> <p><font size="3">Although<em> I</em> could see where I had totally botched up the logo, he didn’t appear to notice. </font></p> <p><font size="3">In truth, I was completely amazed. I was pretty sure when starting on the pumpkin that I would end up with something resembling a constipated bull. Imagine my surprise when it actually looked like the Vikings logo.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The following Halloween, he brought out his Minnesota Wild jersey. Would I be able to carve their logo? I took one look at all the intricate bits and pieces of the logo and inwardly shuddered. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Yeah! No problem I told him, and set to work.</font></p> <p><font size="3"></font><font size="3"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-140kzJMnXqk/Tqn3kgzjGGI/AAAAAAAABZI/hKtSi1kgEnI/s1600-h/MNWildPumpkin13.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="MNWildPumpkin1" border="0" alt="MNWildPumpkin1" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Jpjw8DQsTNk/Tqn3lLJCoYI/AAAAAAAABZQ/7h1opi-T5U8/MNWildPumpkin1_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="296"></a></font></p> <p><font size="3">Side Note: This is what a pumpkin looks like after it has sat out overnight in the warm desert air of Arizona. </font></p> <p><font size="3">The summer of the next year we moved to Minnesota. In keeping with tradition, I choose another Minnesota team: the University of Minnesota and their mascot, Goldy Gopher. By this time, I was becoming bored with the whole pumpkin carving shtick. </font></p> <p><font size="3"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-qJai3HD5SFk/Tqn43HPTKdI/AAAAAAAABZ4/Q6XuV5eAhcA/s1600-h/399%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="399" border="0" alt="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirLLBYAlock3hydIgXR3nRiVK5xlxZh6kWYbfJ5-UoWViydBSid4050ADZsEIaEoxAectZWzeo9n8bBGzjUH-HdWLEO3glM-PF2corQ3lh2YIg8LMpX7K1lY09XfHsNKAJq1YOP4AjHjO/?imgmax=800" width="361" height="404"></a></font></p> <p><font size="3"><font size="3">Maybe bored isn’t the right word…</font></font></p> <p><font size="3"><font size="3">Horrified. I</font> was becoming<em> horrified</em> at having to spend another five hours with my back hunched over, intricately chipping and cutting little pieces of pumpkin while my hands cramped and my arms itched like I had just taken a mosquito bath.</font></p> <p><font size="3">After the U of M pumpkin, I decided I was done. I was throwing in the towel on this whole pumpkin carving thing. </font></p> <p><font size="3">And then… the Minnesota Twins went and got themselves a new stadium. Who was I not to celebrate <em>that</em> fabulousness?!? </font></p> <p><font size="3"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-GxyeaXKL63A/Tqn3n8YLB1I/AAAAAAAABZo/OT10NuLinDk/s1600-h/MNTwinsPumpkin4.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="MNTwinsPumpkin" border="0" alt="MNTwinsPumpkin" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-XuPRt5tkJbw/Tqn3oeuTzHI/AAAAAAAABZw/s_jud2C92yM/MNTwinsPumpkin_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304"></a></font></p> <p><font size="3">Finally, something wonderful happened: No one in my family cares about Minnesota’s basketball team, the Timberwolves. </font></p> <p><font size="3">I was<em> free!!!</em> </font></p> <p><font size="3">Giddy with excitement, I realized I could carve whatever I wanted. Heck, I didn’t have to carve anything at all! And so last year’s pumpkin was simply our last name. I didn’t even draw it on the pumpkin first and, get this, it turned out kinda crooked. I DIDN’T EVEN CARE. Elated at escaping my pumpkin carving bondage, I slapped that baby on the front porch and threw a candle in it. </font></p> <p><font size="3">The lesson in this? If there is even the slightest possibility that you might have some kind of awesome hidden talent, DO NOT let your family know. They will hold it against you and expect your awesomeness ALL THE TIME. I can’t even begin to describe the palpable disappointment the BLT* displayed upon seeing last year’s pumpkin. </font></p> <p><font size="3">*Not the sandwich, but bacon sounds really good right now…</font></p> <p><font size="3">This year, I was just going to have the kids go and pick one of the <font size="3"><a href="http://www.bhg.com/halloween/pumpkin-carving/printable-pumpkin-stencils/">Better Homes and Gardens Pumpkin Stencils</a> to print out and bow out of the whole pumpkin thing altogether. And would you even guess what happened next? </font></font></p> <p><font size="3">Our women’s basketball team won the championship. </font></p> <p><font size="3">I just can’t win.</font> </p> <p> </p> <p><font size="3"></font></p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-60659749265647478802011-10-25T22:22:00.001-05:002011-10-25T22:22:53.029-05:00Could You Tell I Was Gone?<p><font size="3">Because I was was. But I’m back now. And I promise never to leave you alone like that again. ;’ )</font></p> <p> </p> <p><font size="3"></font></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-25140974711114496512011-10-17T09:00:00.000-05:002011-10-17T14:00:24.344-05:00My Very First Guest Post…<center><font size="4">Aaaaannnnd… a retraction. When I typed this up, it was around 1 am and I might have been delirious. Yes, I did in fact <em>write </em>a guest post, but it was not for today and I didn’t realize I had posted this last night. Erm… kinda embarassed at having a case of premature exclamation, but that’s just how I roll. Get excited first, think later. I should really try and work on that…</font></center> <center><font size="4">; )</font></center> <center><font size="4"></font> </center> <center><font size="4"></font> </center> <center><font size="4"></font> </center> <div align="center"><font size="3">Today I’m honored to be writing about friendship over at <a href="http://wovenbywords.blogspot.com/">Woven by Words</a>:</font></div> <p align="center"><a href="http://wovenbywords.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" src="http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd329/crissyren/mimibutton.gif"></a></p> <div align="center"><font size="3">Head on over to say hi and share your thoughts!</font></div> <div align="center"><font size="3"></font> </div><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a> <div> </div> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-43578629102912714592011-10-13T09:37:00.001-05:002011-10-13T10:11:40.302-05:00Bike Helmets: Or How My Kid Didn’t End Up With a Head Injury…<p><font size="3">Rarely do we get the chance to prove our children right. Usually my cries of ‘look both ways!’ and ‘PLEASE, for the love of all things holy, put your seatbelt on, cause we’re not leaving this driveway til you do and we’re really late’ are begrudgingly heeded by the *BLT.</font></p> <p><font size="3">*Not the kind you eat.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Because, as my kids are quick to point out, they have neither been in a car accident or hit by anything while crossing the street. BUT…</font></p> <p><font size="3">This past Sunday night, T Bub walked in from selling Boy Scout wreaths and said, ‘I’m really glad you make me wear this thing’, referring to his bike helmet.</font></p> <p><font size="3">While riding his bike home from selling Boy Scout Christmas Wreaths (yes, it’s that time of year again) he was flying down a hill and went to take a sharp turn when his wheels slid on some leaves and flung him into a tree. Head first. </font></p> <p><font size="3">The top of his helmet took the first and hardest hit, and the tree gouged out the hard plastic on top. His face and leg were pretty scratched up, but it was clear that the helmet took the brunt of the impact. </font></p> <p><font size="3">So I will use this opportunity to remind you all out in the Internets of the correct way to wear a bicycle helmet. I am constantly readjusting my kids helmet, because for some reason, kids seem to think that a bike helmet should fit like a hockey helmet:</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-TGLN-3RM4GU/Tpb3i76HdxI/AAAAAAAABYU/_28OvQAx0rg/s1600-h/MN%252520Wild%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="MN Wild" border="0" alt="MN Wild" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/--GYD0bBEp4A/Tpb3jVuJlcI/AAAAAAAABYc/eyxx6OCE4Oc/MN%252520Wild_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="207" height="244"></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://www.life.com/image/91450830">{source}</a></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Yeah… I get it. They don’t like the chin strap (my kids, as well as hockey players). However, at no time should my kids need to quickly flip off their helmet in order beat the daylights out of another person, so I really must insist they keep the chin strap tightened.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Realistically, the chin strap is only half the problem. Incorrect positioning of the helmet can also be an issue. This chart shows how the helmet should sit on your head:</font></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUUbh3lA3QKwHEQUtQnSQZYB3e2HQbWviiVAxvSqO_VIV6JXboVWIemOVPu5mQCcGEVx_9bjgsCGl7IXVvkxkzNy9yL1COXp25lLN4aoK9NXkdapVT_-36Dclmuy0ebxQmwsT_t3nUbGye/s1600-h/helmetsafety.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="helmetsafety" border="0" alt="helmetsafety" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-BlkPQgiA07k/Tpb3lw1x53I/AAAAAAAABYs/xCDt1gyCPhs/helmetsafety_thumb.png?imgmax=800" width="244" height="196"></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://health.allina.com/library/content/2/19474">{source}</a></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Clearly, the helmet in the top left ‘wrong’ picture is going to fall down over her eyes and impede her vision. Obviously, that’s dangerous. But what I see most often is the lower left ‘wrong’ picture or what I call the ‘gangsta’ helmet position. </font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3"><strong>Me:</strong> T Bub, why do you have your helmet slung back all gangsta-like? </font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3"><strong>T Bub:</strong> What does that even mean? That doesn’t even make sense.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3"><strong>Me:</strong> Whatever. You’re exposing your frontal cortex, which is responsible for rational thought and emotions. That stuff’s important. Fix the helmet.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">I have to fight with Bitty to get her to wear her helmet, and she hears my constant refrain of ‘<strong>no helmet on the head, no butt on the bike’</strong>. Truthfully, she only bikes in our yard, and can’t go any faster than a snails pace. But I want the habit of wearing a helmet to be firmly engrained in her head for when she does take to the streets someday.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">And now, here is a not-so-fun fact from the <a href="http://www.ehs.net/allina/allina671.htm">Allina Bike Team</a>:</font></p> <ul> <li> <p><font size="3"><b>Head injury is the leading cause of death in bicycle crashes</b>. Statistics show that anywhere from 45 to 88 per cent of cyclists' traumatic brain injuries can be prevented by a helmet.</font></p></li></ul> <p><font size="3"><strong>*Stepping off soapbox*</strong></font> <p><font size="3">In other news, this might have been the longest title I’ve ever given a post on my blog. </font> <p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-5895779678116521372011-10-12T08:40:00.001-05:002011-10-12T08:40:37.576-05:00Wordless Wednesday: Fall Colors…<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrCsnbNvPchv3U6qBMYlP4sxVgR0U9g9WFAymrO7-p-CsHiIfYegxLsJDgcbhJBbrSRJs-texmpU6RkPeHsLEuEppN3ML3pJVnRMUxKPKg0u7JgwLrSjPyCBbS56z-j4nOqnP97a9aJcz/s1600-h/047%252520%2525282%252529%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="047 (2)" border="0" alt="047 (2)" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-qfCbN9c5t0M/TpWY1AomeUI/AAAAAAAABYM/5e4tLZ6Rjns/047%252520%2525282%252529_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="504" height="379"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{Along the Mississippi River}</font></p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-35386686604751608182011-10-06T08:29:00.000-05:002011-11-03T14:55:09.111-05:00Homemade Angry Birds Party…<p><font size="3">Bitty loves many things. Chief among those are Legos, the Wii, and my phone. The reason she loves my phone? </font></p> <p><font size="3">The games, of course.*</font></p> <p><font size="3">*I curse the day I downloaded Dumb-o-meter, but that’s another story.</font></p> <p><font size="3">A month or so ago, while playing Angry Birds on my phone, Bitty remarked that she would love to have an Angry Birds birthday party. Since I often forget things, I made a note to myself. </font></p> <p><font size="3">A literal note, written on a pad of paper next to my computer. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Some days later, I saw a note next to my computer that simply read, 'Angry Birds’, wondered what the heck that was all about, and threw it away.</font></p> <p><font size="3">So it was not surprising that about two weeks before Bitty’s birthday, MC asked if I had anything planned. ACK! I quickly ran downstairs to the blog cave* and using my <a href="http://kadburyis.blogspot.com/2011/09/scrapbooking-giveaway.html">My Memories Suite</a>, I made this:</font></p> <p><font size="3">*my unfinished basement. It’s dark and damp, so it qualifies for cave status. Also, there are bugs down here.</font></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgetdUMU-eu65JenAwTLjiJnZk85H-Gs2XJmmWZKGJ1oZE5ZorkCULtHKVHHyjPW4lFfqeDo2H98O9uhgAEuFg6yzaxlsi1NP5fdn4-2Ji0JPmXtrfTZdrPQS1trsaauZvJV1822YDc5QRN/s1600-h/Angry-Birds-Invite-0019.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Angry Birds Invite-001" border="0" alt="Angry Birds Invite-001" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-0ccMbkVIa3k/ToyxhOYLrfI/AAAAAAAABXI/hJAgSXCMeoc/Angry-Birds-Invite-001_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="327" height="404"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3"></font> <font size="3">{Angry Birds Birthday Invitation}</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">About a week later, MC asked who Bitty invited and if I had sent the invites out. I frantically ran downstairs and quickly uploaded the invite to Facebook. I tagged all the appropriate parents with a note that the invitation was for their kid and not them and then promptly forgot all about it. </font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Until 4 p.m. the day before the party. When M.C. asked me what my plan was. </font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">PLAN?!? What plan???</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">I had been collecting ideas on <a href="http://pinterest.com/kadburyis/">Pinterest</a>, so I looked over what I had:</font></p> <p align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTWiTiSERq24dKOWUZpYr23_-mo4n_6tZqweMZx15Ml2elCDQt6r6yDGg2tjv1M2JMYVzQ_QeeE3m_mU9mR4oCivDaxcVmtG0PrP96DImjmxF3iGnMnVzyDls73GeVTG4-emmMjwXU0D0V/s1600-h/Angry-Birds-Party4.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="Angry Birds Party" border="0" alt="Angry Birds Party" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4pq2w-BZzh3kewBgAv_SAD2NXRilSCbZRKr3wE7SYNZ6Q-Kh4-BJCvZ1mtigStfkFMq_d3Zc1sYf2bt7Fn9vym7QB8pF6crDIdquVi3kpq1pFCEt-Y-S_gpcq2vLb_foPprrdzWtRA6An/?imgmax=800" width="404" height="247"></a></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Hmm, not exactly a plethora of ideas. So MC and I headed to the party store to see what they had available in the Angry Birds section. </font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Note: the party store does not carry Angry Birds merchandise. </font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Undeterred, we searched out items that we could use for the party. I figured I could draw faces onto balloons, so we picked out a red and a green Mylar balloon:</font> </p> <p align="left"><font size="3"></font><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-GzabeM16ln4/ToyxktZvWVI/AAAAAAAABXU/ui1PYLVHo18/s1600-h/0744.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="074" border="0" alt="074" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-VDkU6Kb_QGw/ToyxlWydD9I/AAAAAAAABXY/RI2gpXHzH7s/074_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304"></a></p> <p><font size="3">Here’s something I didn’t know about Mylar balloons: If you use a Sharpie to try and draw on them, the color comes off the balloon and the Sharpie quits working. By the time I ruined my fourth and last Sharpie, I had only drawn the pig and part of the red Angry Bird. </font></p> <p><font size="3">I used paint to color in the eyes and beak and then moved on to other things: drawing the yellow Angry Bird onto the yellow cups.</font></p> <p><font size="3"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-LozmP4hKeM8/Toyxm-N43DI/AAAAAAAABXc/GIspZZuniYE/s1600-h/0784.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="078" border="0" alt="078" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-tKM8TDzvlXo/ToyxnQAhH1I/AAAAAAAABXg/wy54eiO3HXw/078_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304"></a></font></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{Lovely L let me use her black Sharpie to draw the faces on}</font></p> <p><font size="3">It was at this point that I realized I should have just printed out yellow Angry Bird faces and glued them onto the cups. Same with the goodie bags. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Instead, with only an hour before the party, I quickly drew a template of the eyes and beak and had Lovely L and her friends cut and paste them onto the red bags.</font></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinr_b5NkAJKJABWhnaz2J2_v7amknA2Vj1yMzFss8JBe3epwvllIU4ja6E6gnwvJdPoCem0dDEVjPlHl_tUbZ1uqwTJ9AcwInzpe82CFWbE8nU1jwWZirROHsJd3ktmrwrGMYi89JldVmc/s1600-h/0654.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="065" border="0" alt="065" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjClLkR761Qh7-wBdMBlDHILC9HPR5Zzp609RZtYCRTtYgJNnHX-Br8NBIB482eu1Aijv4LpmCi3hj4fnyZYgStGYVcsJI-8Qpgh1brD1lMRlYMuCJheAabMlXM6Cw2BjTPhhl1audBtk11/?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{I made a simple task very difficult}</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">The day before the party, I had sent Lovely L and her friend E out into the neighborhood in search of pinecones. Thankfully, Minnesota is not lacking in coniferous forests, and they found plenty. We used these to make birdfeeders by having the kids slather peanut butter on the pinecone, then rolling it in birdseed.*</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">*It would probably be a good idea to check with parents about any peanut allergies. In all seriousness, you do not want that kind of action to go down at your kids birthday party. It would be a party to remember for all the wrong reasons. Much like the time all the guests at my little brothers’ birthday party got ringworm. But worse.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">We had also bought green plates at the party store for the kids to make the <a href="http://kidsparties123.com/crafts/angry-birds-pig-puppet-craft/">green pig masks</a> I found on <a href="http://pinterest.com/kadburyis/party-ideas/">Pinterest.</a> </font></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEL4IVvMijNt2wQjJ3M8mG1FNpgRhWhMBLigxvYZX3kScA_3FDnEDnVhA2hiD_cpwbpLxJx-QZtcVH527PigwloozEnETHagf-fbEU9d31v6QdRN6ZqIY4hCjouKci71LHiIld3iZyG8jx/s1600-h/0364.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="036" border="0" alt="036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAA-5cDPDDbQRK5DY437UN264ZCqWBy7kxSEJd7QuUxpxMGh5_Wdmua7cbMHNb2Q4BivojcF4hYXI5O8GAe1rsVFsMtN3pPJfCOmWsUqM76nK38jJoMY0yPgiJ8ZtuUdrMhhrkMjT-IOSX/?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304"></a><font size="3"></font></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{The masks were a hit}</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">After the masks were finished, the kids were ready for cake. </font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Side note: MC is the creative genius and baker behind the cakes. I just decorate.</font></p> <p><font size="3"></font><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSc_ErmYVuKqpN4ehsjD82tN_ewBhAz0bQRdG6bDiQ893c4x9j2QS5d3tPavEPQf9yOYiWcAlyKCz2QFzH3sYlZ_HqhZIEe2lSuSy3PeKxJS26wYYt4yUsQW4jcE-c8YICfgPPATrGsGt2/s1600-h/angry-birds-cake4.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="angry birds cake" border="0" alt="angry birds cake" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-V3w3HQiHWrE/ToyxuyzR8JI/AAAAAAAABX4/pObFUvTtObQ/angry-birds-cake_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304"></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="3">{His ideas, my artwork}</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Although I did those cakes by hand (not sure if that’s the correct term…) I did learn an awesome trick from Marie at <a href="http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/">Celebration Generation</a> that would make it easy for just about anyone to decorate a cake like that. I’m thinking I’ll write another post and share. Someday. (Not because I don’t want to share… I’m just a huge procrastinator.) ; )</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3"><strong>Update:</strong> I did it! I wrote the cake post – so you can <a href="http://kadburyis.blogspot.com/2011/11/cake-decorating-or-something-like-it.html">decorate an Angry Birds cake</a> and it will look like a professional did it! And you won’t have to spend fifty bucks!*</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">*gross exaggeration of actual cake costs</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3"></font><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-g_f15EgwHoo/ToyxwXPKiFI/AAAAAAAABX8/X0jpxdJgVaM/s1600-h/044%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="044" border="0" alt="044" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-d1Ext2OElvc/ToyxxbcYL_I/AAAAAAAABYA/AGfN7W3pxdg/044_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304"></a></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Bitty loved everything about her party and I think all the kids had a great time. I’d say that next time, I’ll have everything organized and ready to go far before party time. But the truth? </font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3">Probably not. ; )</font></p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a> <p><font size="3">P. S. Want your own <a href="http://www.mymemories.com/">My Memories Suite</a>? Use this code: <strong>STMMMS26948 </strong>and save ten bucks!</font></p> <center><a href="http://www.mymemories.com/digital_scrapbooking_software"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://www.mymemories.com/images/stm/Get10WithCode-230x60.jpg" width="214" height="70"></a></center> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2845389623412930623.post-68497864132459010472011-10-05T09:24:00.000-05:002011-10-05T09:24:00.949-05:00Wordless Wednesday: Just Say Awww…<p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-tqcxzzOiz4w/Tov4KcOwj1I/AAAAAAAABWs/XzLbTf52POg/s1600-h/124%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="124" border="0" alt="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE_ZRtX-309s0BkbSx2TIvlanVQPRhgiH78mCF161royjybjPCY27QTAowwE26hZg6ZQqL2PWd5OyWQ7DyKiy246a8GTmTDKzJUScE3TcuWogSIIx7k0mByI2b-xQfVAorbSDtGL4G2wpB/?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304"></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-KAPAMSMltP0/Tov4NOhuAuI/AAAAAAAABW0/5Cno23epVW0/s1600-h/122%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="122" border="0" alt="122" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-yPcT8DGf0Mk/Tov4N5OYqKI/AAAAAAAABW4/ycqbzrhmbRw/122_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304"></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-3ow89ZgCnfo/Tov4QVA3dOI/AAAAAAAABW8/W_jw5do6ZHA/s1600-h/121%25255B13%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" title="121" border="0" alt="121" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-2B2RTVhZiT4/Tov4RuoRaVI/AAAAAAAABXA/hP0ZElMPFSM/121_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="304"></a></p> <p><font size="3"></font></p><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54489/93/59B4D4F24DBB4D13EC58976BA7179F6D.png"></a> <div class="blogger-post-footer">Thanks for stopping by! Next time I'll have some banana bread waiting for you : )</div>Kristin Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14197363955616624401noreply@blogger.com0