Cupcake

At Church we were going to have trunk or treat for the kids. Last year was the first year and we loved it. We also give first and second prizes for the best decorated trunk and first and second prizes to the best costume. But to make it fair Mrs. Connie only allows the trick or treaters and their parents to vote. I was very surprised when I won first place in the costume contest. I was having a hard time this year trying to decide what to be and then I ate my favorite food, cupcakes, and realized what I wanted to be! That's right I was a cupcake. I'm not very arts and crafty, but with Lealan's help we made a great costume. One little girl said as I was handing her candy "I could eat you up!" I also decorated my trunk with cupcakes on cake plates. I'm already trying to think of next years costume because I want to be the one to beat every year :-)

Let them eat cake!

Bayli and Lealan's birthdays were August 28. Yes, they share a birthday which means 2 birthday cakes. Lealan usualy wants a german chocolate cake, but this year he wanted yellow with buttercream. No problem, however, Bayli wants a multi layered cake with fondant. I have never done anything with fondant. So about 2 weeks before this I bake a cake and practice. It turned out alright so I thought I could tackle the 4, yes I said 4 layer cake she wanted. I spent the Friday before the birthdays baking and decorating. This time with fondant was a little trickier than the first time, but it came out okay. I think I managed to hide the worst areas. It may not have looked the best, but it tasted great and Bayli loooovvvved it! Her loving it was worth all the time it took.

Orientation

Tuesday we had Bayli's 7th grade orientation for 3 hours. As if I wasn't depressed enough realizing that my baby was going to be in the 7th grade, but I also had to sit through 3 hours of several different people reminding me that she is growing up. I swear she was just in Kindergarten last week! We got her class schedules, met all her teachers, and realized how much money we would be putting out from now until school starts. All the school supplies, clothes, shoes, workbooks, planners, trips... And then when school starts it will be more each week for this and for that. It never ends. Well enough of my complaining. I have actually considered taking a math class at Chattanooga State just to be able to help her with her homework. She got put in honors math so (fingers crossed) she won't need help?! I mean she's in honors math, doesn't that mean she should be able to do it all by herself? Mr. Gravitt, the math teacher, said they would also be working in the 9th grade math book. Well, what's she going to do in 9th grade, NASA math? We went to school and actually had gym every day and some free time and recess and now they don't have any free minutes at all and come home with lots of homework.

Bragging

Bayli had her 4th watercolor painting lesson yesterday and I just have to brag. She is doing AMAZING!!! She didn't get her talent from me because I can't draw a straight line with a ruler. Marshall, my brother, can draw and paint very well, but he doesn't anymore and that drives me crazy. If I had that kind of talent I would be using it to the extreme. This sand dune/ocean painting is the one she did yesterday and I love it! We are going to frame it and hang it in her room. She is enjoying her lessons so much and Sam Reilly is a wonderful artist and teacher.

Shrek Spoon

When I got the wooden spoon it reminded all of us of the spoon Shrek eats with. Since my husband is quite a bit bigger than I am I sometimes lovingly refer to him as the Jolly Green Giant, Grape Ape, Ogre, etc. etc. He recently switched job duties and is now doing more physical work than before. He came by where I work one morning and said he had bought a bag of frosted flakes and a gallon of milk and was considering going home and just pouring the milk in the bag of cereal because he was so hungry. I then being very considerate of his hungry state asked him if he was going to eat it with his Shrek spoon. He didn't find it as funny as I did and since then I picture him eating with the spoon every time I see it or him eating and usually make some mention of it as well. Today he sends me this pic of him holding the said spoon over a large mixing bowl. It made my day! :)

The Liquid Chainsaw

Wednesday May 12th I got to go watch the top 12 winners in the 6th grade science experiments present their projects. Bayli was one of the top 12 with her "the Liquid Chainsaw" project. She studied the effects of Coke, Diet Coke, Lemonade, Milk, Tea, and Coffee on human teeth and cow teeth.. She did an excellent job if I say so! Lemonade ate the enamel off the tooth, it just wiped it clean. OWWW. Seeing the results of her project makes you think twice about drinking anything. I was such a proud mommy when all the votes were in and she won 2nd place overall!!!! She was so excited! She had been saving the cow skull she got the teeth from for a year just waiting on this project. Way to go my little anthropologist/egyptologist in the making!

Scope test

Bayli had to have a scope done on April 21. They are checking to see if she really does have acid reflux or if her problems are just side effects of all her meds. It was her first time being put to sleep, which makes mom a little nervous, but we made it through it just fine. TC Thompsons is a great childrens hospital and the staff is wonderful. The happy juice before the iv and surgery made her all melty into the bed and giggly. They attached what is called a BRAVO (don't know what it stands for if anything) to the bottom of her esophagus and took some biopsies. She had a monitor to wear for 48 hours that the BRAVO transmitted data to wirelessly during that time. How cool is that! And the BRAVO thing will just let go and pass on through :) I think she helped it on down when she swallowed a whole piece of candy Friday evening! She had an allergic reaction to the glue on the heart monitor pads that meant a little extra time in recovery and a few days for her spots to go away. She was funny! She was trying to talk, but you could not understand anything she was saying, but water. She had no idea what she was doing and had yet to open her eyes, but the third time she asked for water and hadn't received it yet she growled "GET ME A GLASS OF WATER NOW!" I actually think her head spun around. I busted out laughing and mom nearly peed her pants. Once we got her a drink of water the growly monster slept for like 2 hours.