Monday, March 19, 2012

want

Mommy? 
I want a Spiderman costume. 

Mommy? 
I want a robot costume and a batman flashlight with a bat on it. It's a craft
I want a robot costume and a yoda costume and a stormtrooper costume and a spiderman costume.

Mommy? Mama!
I want a BAD robot costume. A bad one has red eyebrows and does this (fierce scowl). 

Mama?
I want a guy that transforms into a car. A yellow one. 

Mommy? 
I want a remote controlled airplane, a lego remote controlled airplane that I push a button and the wings SHOOT out whoosh. And it flies like this.

Mommy? 
I want a snowboard. I want to go swoosh fast.

Mama? 
I want goggles and a helmet and gloves. 

Mommy? 
I want a flash costume and a whole superheroland. A whole set.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

sweetness


Frances has taken to calling Clark "Buddy Boy".

Yesterday she gave him 3 dollars of her own money (of which she only had about 5) to buy some Angry Bird erasers. I suggested he give her a great big thank you hug, and they threw their arms around each other and Frances kissed him on the head.

They no longer come to see us when they first wake up. Now Clark goes into his sister's room and they start right in with Baby Sam, a game where Clark is the baby and Frances is the mommy.

Today I asked Frances what I would need to know if I were going to play Baby Sam, and she said they always go on the carousel, and it's his birthday every day, and they have either cake or cupcakes.

Here's the prayer she said last night before bed:

Dear Sun, thank you for the light in the morning. 
Dear Moon, thank you for the light in the night. 
Dear God, thank you for this life and all the happiness. 

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

superhero cake!

I didn't use fondant because I think it tastes horrible, so it's just confectioner sugar frosting. I got it so smooth by dipping a palate knife in hot water and smoothing it over. Worked pretty well. That's royal frosting on the hershey bars for windows. I tried to use melted white chocolate but it just melted the hershey bars. Royal frosting is amazing stuff - it will do just about anything. It even worked for mortar on the broken hershey bars - you can see one on the far side of the cake. 

Superman on top, Batman and Robin guarding the buildings below.

Red, blue, yellow insides! Very exciting. 


Sweet four year old birthday boy. 

Thursday, March 8, 2012

cake on the way

Clark will be four in a couple of days. He is adorable and very difficult these days, and he makes me crazy. But it's a much lighter version of crazy than I used to have parenting them. It's colored with more humor. I'm definitely better cut out for young children rather than babies. I did not wear sleep deprivation well. BUT ALSO, my headaches.... It is no little deal that I have found a sort of solution for my headaches. I never thought I'd visit this mountain, frankly, but for a solid month after I have a botox treatment I not only have no headaches but also can eat ANYTHING. It's heaven. Chocolate chocolate chocolate. And peanut butter is WAAAAY better than I remembered.

So Saturday is the party, which means I'm elbow deep in cake making. I do love the creative release of a crazy cake every 6 months (how handy of them to have spread out their birthdays!) but the focus I give it means I sort of forget I have an actual party to plan. And then the party is upon me and all I want to do is shape chocolate into rocks or turrets or skyscrapers (as it happens to be this year) but I'm overcome with anxiety because I can't seem to remember to buy the plates.

One day. One day I will just make a regular cake with regular frosting. But for now - for the magic time of four year olds - there are buildings and sky and superman, and how much fun is that??

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

hello there!

I don't know why I've been absent here so long. I do have excuses, though they're not interesting enough to share. Mostly, I think, my creative outlets have shifted to material production - like baking the crazy biannual birthday cake. Or these balls I sewed from old sweaters. (Aren't they cute? I was so tired of telling Clark not to throw things in the house and decided he needed something he was allowed to throw. The green and gray one was for him. Then Frances wanted one (left). Hers has embroidery from a kit she was working on while I made the balls. The one on the right is for our favorite 2 year old. She loved Clark's ball when she was here last, and she happens to be having a birthday this week. Frances did the embroidery on that one freehand, and it was her idea to write with a fabric pen on the heart. The little one was just cuz. I'm doing one more for the birthday gift, and I need to find a bell to put in it. I've got one around here somewhere.)

I've been reading old posts, ones like this and this, mostly when Clark was a year to a year and a half, and Frances was 2 and a half to three. It was like living with two wild animals. No wonder I was out of my mind. Things are so different now, calmer, more sane. I can take my eyes off my children to do things like shower or have the stomach flu. A couple of weeks ago when I was horribly ill I even napped while they were awake and playing in the house. A new world!

I've also been reading these old posts to Frances, like this one and this one. She thinks these stories about herself are hilarious. "More, more!" she says. It's the first time I've read any of the blog to the kids; I saw for the first time the weight of this thing in their lives that I've created, this record of their babydom, something they are going to be able to have. Until now I hadn't thought about it much. More, I've thought about the depression and frustration the honesty with which I've written here. I've thought of how I will feel about their reading that. (I feel okay about it, by the way.)

So it was lovely, reading to her. She was a funny (and intense) toddler. One of the posts mentioned something about a 'stage', and Frances asked what a stage is. I answered the question, then told her some stages are good and some are not so good. Then she said, "I'm in a really good stage right now, right Mama?" "Yes, that's true. You're really fun to be around right now," I said. "And Clark's in not such a good stage," she said. "Also true," I admitted. You can't argue with the girl.