A use for formula cans

A few weeks ago, I noticed I was throwing a lot of Enfamil cans away. Zachary goes through about 3 a week, and I thought there was something I could be doing with them. I asked a very crafty friend to come up with a solution. She agreed, but in the meantime I had a flash of inspiration. You see, my children have several toys that consist of itty bitty parts, toys that came in boxes that have long since graced the local landfill and are either scattered about or put into plastic sandwich bags. I'm not a fan of the baggies, because it's hard to find them. The worst are the puzzles, because you can't see what puzzle you're making.

So, I decided to use my Enfamil cans to solve this problem.

First, I assembled the puzzles and took a picture of them to put on the can. I actually put the picture of the puzzle on the can lid. I figure it's easier to throw the puzzle/toys into the nearest can, and then find the matching lid.

Then I rinsed out my formula cans. I didn't wash and scrub, because they are made of cardboard, and I wasn't sure how much water they could actually take without disintegrating.

Got my contact paper. Not beautiful, but what I had on hand.

Measured and cut the contact paper, then wrapped it around the can. That's one good thing about these cans - they don't taper, making it easier to put the contact paper on straight. (Notice I said easier, not easy.)

Gave scraps to my helper.

Put the puzzle pieces in the can.

Voila!

I also like the fact that they're stackable.

Ok, so it's not rocket science, but hopefully, within a few weeks, I'll be able to have the kids' toys a bit more organized. Now, if only I could convince them to keep it that way....

My funny girl

Jessica has a hard time staying in bed. She goes down fine for naps, but at night she *will NOT* stay in her bed. Regardless of if she had a nap that day or not. We put her down about 8:00 and it's usually about 9:30 or 10:00 that she finally stays.
So lately I've been trying to ignore her while we work in the basement or whatever and see if she gets bored and goes to bed. It works for Erica, but it doesn't work for Jessie. She's too easily entertained.
Another thing she's been doing lately is taking of her PJ top. So when we came upstairs the other day from working in the basement, this is what we found. Jess with no shirt on laying in the middle of the hallway, fast asleep. Silly girl.

Today I asked her to take a soda bottle outside to the recycling bin. She didn't want to put her shoes on. It's cold, but I figured for just going a few feet down the ramp to the bin she really didn't need them. I wouldn't put my shoes on for the trip. So she went outside, ran down to the bottom of the ramp, then ran back up and declared it was cold and she needed shoes. Nevermind that she had been right next to the bin. Then she put on one of her shoes and one of her dad's shoes and finished her job. She's a silly one.

But I Can't Wait Until I'm 8...

Yesterday was Eldon's birthday. He's finally 8. He was super excited to get his own set of scriptures and a journal. He's been designing his own cake for a month or so. Usually I hear about it all year long, but about a month ago he drew it out for me and stuck with a design. I added the "Happy Birthday Eldon". He was not happy with me, "because it doesn't leave room for the figures!" We figured it out.











In other news, Erica has started reading books. She's been able to read smaller words for a while, but today she seemed to realize that meant she could open a book and read it to herself if she wanted to. She read "Go, Dog, Go" by P.D. Eastman to Jessica today, only asking for help on 2 words. She started reading "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back", but had a bit more trouble with it. We're really proud of her!


Thursday we had Enrichment. The theme was "All in the Bag". We went through a list of things that could be in our purse, and got a bean if we had it. The person with the most beans won a prize, as did the person with the least, the biggest bag, the smallest bag, the most change, and the strangest item. (I won that one for having a catheter in my purse). I made two purse cakes to go along with the theme. It was a lot of fun.

Friday the 13th

I'm not a superstitious gal, but this Friday the 13th was not one to be messed with. It all started in the wee hours of the morning (about 12:30AM), when Jessie got up. 3 times. Then Erica. 2 times. On a night when I finally went to bed early to get some sleep. So much for that.

Then I overslept. Which is sad that 6:30 is oversleeping. But my dear, darling Erica got suspended from the bus for 3 days because of safety violations, so I had to get up and get *everyone* ready by 7:45, not just the two kids. Which means I should have been up at 6:00 to feed Zachary. No big deal, just skip the shower for now and feed Zach.

While trying to get Eldon out of bed, he complained that his stomach hurt. Now, my son is not. a. morning. person. Like his mother x 10. AND he's a certified hypochondriac. So he often complains that he can't get out of bed in the morning because he doesn't feel good. So, the rule is that he has to get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and then we'll see how he feels. 99 times out of 100, by the time we get to breakfast, I don't hear another complaint. That, of course, leaves the 1 time out of 100 where there is a problem. Which would be this time. I discovered that it was real as he threw up on the couch and down the hallway on his way to the bathroom. Great. James and I have a theory that Eldon sometimes convinces himself that he's sick and throws up, because he'll throw up in the morning and be perfectly fine by noon. But, real or imagined, the outcome is very, very real. So, clean up the mess, tell son to go to bed.

Call the school to say he's sick. Erica has a dr. appt at 9:00, so tell the school she'll just be late, so we can slow down a little because we don't have to go anywhere for another hour. Ok, start getting dinner ready and clean up the kitchen a bit. Because, oh yes, not only is this a typical bad day, I also have a cake to make, missionaries coming over for dinner, and a cheesecake to make to take to our friends' celebration of pi day.

So, a little after 8:00, I go into Eldon's room to tell him that we need to leave in a bit to take Erica to the doctor (just her 6-year checkup). He was throwing up when I went in, and threw up while I was in there. Great. How can I take him with me? I can't. So I call the doctor to cancel. Do I know there's a cancellation fee? Yes, but my son's throwing up so we can't come in. Luckily, they'll see if they can waive the fee for that.

Next, it's time to take Erica to school. Since Eldon can't get out of bed, we can't walk to school. Get all the coats on, load up the kids in the van. Rrrrrrrr. Rrrrrrrr. That's the sound my van makes. Jessica (AGAIN) has left an interior light on. We go back inside, and Erica throws a fit. She does not adjust well to change, and especially to change that she doesn't like. So after lots of tears, I call James to see if he can come jump me. Thankfully, he has a break in meetings and can jump me. Load up the kids again, take Erica to school, and come back home.

Bake the cake. Tried some new options to try and not have a domed top. Didn't work. Oh well, lots of yummy scraps for us! Get a start on making my fondant bow -- loops for the bow and curly-Qs to put around it. My idea for the bow came from thinking, "What would my mother's bow look like?" Because she's the awesomest bow-maker in the world. The colors are lime green and bright orange, and they turn out great. Pu the crumb coat on the cake, let it rest. Icing's kind of sticky, but it works ok for a crumb coat.

By the way, what's the squiggly blue line on the carpet? Right where Eldon threw up...possibly the Resolve reacted with it? Great.

Eat lunch, James agrees the icing's too stiff, so I thin it out, and it spreads much better. Ice the cake. A bit messy, but I can smooth it down when it settles, no problem.

Problem. Icing does NOT smooth down. Instead, it wrinkles. Badly. Like an 80-year old man that's spent too much time in the sun. Very badly. It looks awful! What to do, what to do. Because, did I mention, I'm getting *paid* for this cake. So it *has* to look good. I flip through my cake book and decide to put a chocolate buttercream coating over the chocolate fudge icing. Doesn't taste as good, but it's just a thin coat, so it should be fine. Make the icing, spread it, wait, smooth it out. We're good.

The rest of the afternoon goes relatively normal. Chaotic, but normal. Eldon's fine by now, eats 4 bowls of Cheerios, and wants to walk to school to pick Erica up (thank goodness! Loading and unloading the wheelchair and stroller is a lot of work!). Get home, do the normal afternoon stuff, and finish up on dinner. Make the decorations for the cake. A lot of work going on, a bit stressful, but everything's falling into place. James comes home at 5:30 and helps finish dinner.

The missionaries come over. Elder Shelley laughs at Jessica because she's being super-hyper. Last time he came, she wouldn't say a word, so it's quite the change. She told me before they came that she was going to talk to the missionaries this time. She kept her word!

Missionaries leave, children get ready for bed, and get sacked. (lots of getting out of bed and re-sacking, but that's typical.)

For date night, we decide to make the cheesecake for date night. Strawberry cheesecake. Yum. With pi and it's numerical estimation written on it. Clever, eh? I'm so smart. Yep.

It all goes pretty well until we get to the actual writing on the cheesecake. The recipe has dollops of strawberry puree on the top, so we decide to use this to write pi. We put it in a decorating bag. Tip 2, too small. Tip 3, dripping out like crazy. So we thicken it up a bit. Then a bit more. Then a bit more. Then some more. It's still kind of drippy, but it'll work. We write it in and bake it. While it's baking, we work on the cake.


Apparently, fondant gets really hard and non-pliable after sitting out all day. Which is good for keeping a bow in shape. Which is not good for curly-q ribbons that are supposed to drape. So we try wetting them down. Nope, doesn't work. But if you wet them down enough, you can get them back to play-doey form and make them again. So we made them again and stuck them on the cake. Ta-da! We're done. Put the cover on the cake and go to bed.


Oh no, the cover smooshed the bow, it cracked and broke. Time for stress. I still have some more orange fondant left, so I work on making a new bow. Wishing strongly for my mother who is the awesomest bow maker in the world. But I try and remember what I've seen, and make a decent-looking bow. Let it dry so it will stay bow-shaped. Position the cake on the cake holder so it *won't* smoosh the bow. Go to bed. It's midnight, after all. (Never did make it to the shower...)


Wake up in the morning. (yes, I know it's not Friday the 13th anymore, but it's still part of my story) The bow? It sagged overnight. Get on cakecentral FAST. Other user's advice? Make a new one. I have just enough scraps left over to make a new one. Put it on just before my friend comes to pick it up and PRAY that it lasts until the party. (Did it? If you're reading this, let me know!)

Oh, and my son decided to move some of the circles. Argh! But beyond the fact that he was touching the cake when he wasn't supposed to, there was no major damage done. My friend that came to pick up the cake asked me how long I'd been doing cakes. I told her it was a new hobby and it was a lot of fun. She asked me if it was frustrating sometimes, and I just laughed. Yep. But it is fun, and I love doing it.
In other news:

Basement's mostly done. Hooray! Now it's time to start moving stuff into it. You can't really tell from the picture, but the walls are painted, the trim is up and painted. It's ready for fun.

Yesterday, when we were coming home from school, Erica was telling Jessica to go farther than she was supposed to. Eldon was telling her no, stay where she was. They kept going back and forth. It reminded me of the angel/devil scenario you see on cartoons. (Jessica obeyed and stayed close.)

And here are some cute photos of Zachary. Jessica likes to snuggle up next to him and pretend they're sleeping. Unfortunately, he gets squished in the process. But he's pretty tolerant of it.




Sorry for the long post (somewhat). It was a long day.

Red Velvet

In order to perpetuate my new-found love of decorating cakes, my friend let me make her a birthday cake (isn't she so nice?) ;) Her only request was red velvet. I've never made or eaten red velvet, so I searched for recipes and found a 5-star recipe on Cake Central (where else?) Do you know how much food coloring goes into a red velvet cake? THE WHOLE BOTTLE! Yikes!

I'm still having trouble with my new pan, though I love it. It's a tall 8", and I still am having trouble getting the time/temp right to cook the inside without burning the outside. The cake ended up ok (correct me if I'm wrong, Malisa), but I was getting nervous at the end.

I decided to make a 3-layer cake just to be fancy. And red velvet cake is *crumbly*! But I put on a crumb coat and it worked out ok. The icing wasn't smoothing down very well, so I got out my hand roller and tried that. It worked wonderful! What a great, easy way to smooth a cake. I impressed a diamond pattern on the side using a bamboo skewer (again, another good tip from Cake Central). It's not the original design I had in mind, but I like the way it turned out. I was going to add some more flowers on the side and top, but didn't like it when I started, so I took them off. My kids liked when I made mistakes, 'cuz they got to eat anything I scraped off. :)




Here's a close-up of the butterfly.


Ah, the butterfly. It's made of royal icing. I wanted to try something new, so this was my something new. Did you know royal icing breaks very easily? At least mine did. I made 4 butterfly wings, and they all broke. So I made 7 more. This time only one broke as I prepared the body. So I had 3 butterflies ready to go. I put one on the cake, and Eldon ate another (w/o permission) and broke the other one in the process. So I hoped and hoped that the butterfly wouldn't break in transport because I didn't have a backup. And it didn't. Wahoo!

The first five

Another chain letter! Let's see how it works out.


The first five people to leave a comment on this blog will receive something made by me.
However there are some limitations
1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It will be done this year. (might take a while)
4. You have no clue what it is going to be, poetry, shoes, bags or a little invention of my own. I may bake something and mail it you . Who knows? Not you that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. It may blow your mind!
Here is the catch, if you choose to do this. You must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. This will be fun! When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog.

My detective

This morning while I was in the shower, Jessie got a hold of the calendar and started drawing on it.  Eldon took it away from her.  As I was looking for it this morning, he told me what happened.  I asked him to get it for me, but he couldn't find it.

Well, Eldon has been reading detective stories lately (ie. Encyclopedia Brown), so instead of looking for it, he set up his detective agency to look for it.  Not so productive.  Jessie was the bodyguard.  They finally started looking, and after about 15 minutes gave up.  

Eldon: "I looked everywhere"

Me: "Not so, because if you haven't looked where it is."  

Eldon: "Maybe someone came in the house and stole it!"

(Enter disbelieving Mommy stare here)

Eldon: "Well maybe Jessie knows where it is."

Me: "Did you ask her?"

Eldon: "Jessie, do you know where the calendar is?"

Jessie: "You put it in the art closet."

Lesson learned: Good detective work involves asking questions.  Silly kids.