April, 2008 | The Angel Forever

Monthly Archives April 2008

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Giant cupcake making – Take 1

Posted on April 30, 2008 11:43 pm by TheAngelForever

As hard as it is for me to believe, my baby is going to be one two weeks from today. His family party will actually be on Mother’s day before his actual birthday. Since the little guy is in love with my cupcake pillow we thought it would be fitting to make a giant cupcake for his big day. I had read about them online many times and finally found one in a local store. With a 50% off coupon for the store I got my cake pan for a great price and decided to test out the pan. All of the reviews said that the pan took some getting used to.

Last night I had everything ready and made the cake for a test run. We decided not to bother baking it since it looked so good like this:

Some of it was eaten in this state, but most was baked into a giant cupcake and 8 extra little cupcakes. Since I used pasteurized egg whites I allowed NHL to have his first cake batter EVER. Yes, you read that right my poor almost five year old son has never had cake batter before. Sad no? Check out his reaction to this big event. Please note where JSL is during this time. He was really trying to get NHL to give him a taste.

Hey big brother. . .

PLEASE share with me!

JSL was not interested in giving up. Watch his progressive movement as NHL moved sides while dodging little hands. Please note the sad little puppy eyes from the little guy. Too bad those do not work on his big brother.

NHL had a blast and loved smiling with lots of cake batter on his face (other photos seen on Wordless Wednesday).

More . . . I need more!

All of the boys were enjoying the time playing before bed while Mommy baked.

Now for the birth of a GIANT cupcake:

A GIANT cupcake is born

Overall the test bake did not go too horribly. It was a very good thing that we did the run through since we learned several things that we will do differently next time that should make it even more successful.

This morning when NHL woke up we showed him the finished cupcake. I do not think he realized how large it was going to be after putting it together. He refused to let me give it away and insisted that we taste test it this evening.

Wordless Wednesday – The joys of baking GIANT cupcakes

Posted on April 30, 2008 7:30 am by TheAngelForever

Categories:
nhl Wordless Wednesday yummy

Childhood memories – of the tree kind

Posted on April 29, 2008 4:41 pm by TheAngelForever

My mother and I both share something in common. Both of us lived at the house when we were little. We both played in the same backyard as children and were shaded by the same trusty tree. Over the years tree’s growth took off. In recent years the tree was starting to cause some problems. The roots from this big monster were ruining not only the driveway, but were also causing issue with the garage (already in rough shape from another tree falling on it).

Last year my parent’s neighbors put in a pool and asked my parents if they ever thought about taking the tree down. For them it was a nuisance thanks to allowing almost no sun in their yard, and also dumping stuff in their pool. They all agreed it was good to look into options before nature decided when the tree would come down on a house and injure someone.

Last Thursday at 7:30 the all day project of removing the giant tree took place. Unfortunately, I was not able to get there for photos of it before they started. I arrived at about 1:30 in the afternoon with the boys.

When we arrived my father took us to the yard to see what they had already done. They were just taking wood to the front so it was safe to look at from the neighbor’s driveway. Here is what we saw.

An all day job

Even more lumber

Papa held NHL’s hand since he was a little nervous of all of the noises coming from the other side of the house.

Papa shows NHL the yard

NHL was not too impressed. He did not realize how long they had been working. The four year old child’s mind did not stare like I did at the 60+ year old tree. I stood there recalling days past being shaded by the tree while on the swings with my friends, or getting dizzy on our spinning machine. As a pale child that tree saved me from many a sun burns!

Soon it was time to go back inside to see Nana.

Inside the house we were also able to see what was making the noise outside. This is the machine that was guilty of making our ears ring.

NHL, JSL and I stayed for a few hours to wait and see the remaining part of the tree come down. With each big "thump" in the backyard we knew it was getting closer. It was amazing to see how they were able to maneuver big machines and trucks into the tiny yards. This is one that was needed again in the end of the process.

Many cuts were needed

While the boys did not really seem to care what was going, my mother, father and I kept going to watch the events. The boys and Whiskers (their cockatoo) were more interested in other things.

What Mom?

And this is the birdy:

Finally, after quite some time we heard and felt a final thump and the entire tree was gone. The tree was officially gone and this is all that was left.

All that remains

Sad to see such a big part of our family go, yet glad to see it go safely without problems.

Categories:
family looking back photos

Park adventures with my boys

Posted on April 27, 2008 10:14 pm by TheAngelForever

Last Sunday before the second Passover seder we decided to take the boys to the park for some fresh air. We also thought it would be wise to let NHL to run off some steam. It was an absolutely gorgeous spring day.

Upon arriving at the park NHL bolted from the car (with permission) like this:

JSL was not so sure about the thing in the sky. Thanks to the long, dark, cold winter he forgot what the sun was like. For a while he was content to stay in his stroller under some shade with his sun hat on.

We watched as NHL climbed on anything and everything in his path. My what some amazing therapists can do for a kiddo. Last year at this time he would have asked for some assistance. Now, he could care less if we are there.

Wahoo - sliding fun!

Quickly JSL was getting very antsy and wanted out of the stroller. He saw his big brother having fun and wanted to get closer. JL decided to show him around the park. Please note the big smile behind his binky.

Unfortunately for JL, the little guy did not remain entertained by being out and watching for long. Before I knew it all three of my boys were running all over the playground. The first stop the BIG slide.

Do you think JSL liked his first adventures on the slide? Check these out to see what you think. Be sure to hover over the photos for some captions from Flickr.

Wait for us NHL

Check out who won

JSL's first time down the slide

Even more fun the second time

Third times the charm!

The little kiddie swings here were not too great. They were made for ages two and up and we quickly saw why.

Swings a little too big

When this did not work out JL and JSL ran to catch up with NHL to try something else. The two boys wanted to do a brother train down the smaller slide together. Run ~~Forest~~ JL Run!

The boys go on the slide together

Smiles all around

NHL ran all over the place while Daddy and JSL tried to keep up. Still it was amazing to watch JSL be so happy following his big brother and being in Daddy’s arms.

NHL was very serious as he contemplated the next location to go to in the park.

Serious kiddo

Before I knew it they were all off again . . . to the other side of the park. Before arriving at their final destination, JL and JSL stopped for a quick swing. Not NHL trying to be patient in the background while the other boys were swinging.

Look at NHL waiting patiently in back

Then it was time for everyone to go round and round and get a little dizzy. At first JSL was not too sure about this. Before long he was barking at JL to go more!

Soon it was time to go and get ready for our second Passover seder. Before heading off it was time to catch a quick ride on the T-Rex.

This afternoon we went back to the park for another fun trip before the rain comes in for the week. JSL immediately wanted to go and play. He is so anxious to be able to go and run with his big brother. Soon enough we will be yelling at both of the boys to come back to us.

The nice thing with today, hours after we went Passover is officially over! It is now time to break out the bagels, pizza and other yummy chametz people!

Categories:
brothers fun jl jsl laughs milestone my boys nhl photos weekend

Hat appreciation & Package O’Fun

Posted on April 26, 2008 11:09 pm by TheAngelForever

A few weeks back my parents went to my Cousin M’s wedding in California (still bummed I was unable to go). My father was in his glory because he is a HUGE LA Dodger fan. After they arrived home the boys and I went to visit. Dad quickly showed JSL his new LA Dodger hat and placed it on his head. Here are some photos from JSL trying to fill Papa’s large hat.

BTW – No Dad, I am not saying you have a big head. Mayor Big Head is the one with an extra large cranium!

Be sure to hover over the photos for the captions.

Making Papa proud

As you can see, JSL enjoyed playing with the hat more than actually wearing it. Hopefully he will appreciate the wearing more as the warm weather will require on in the days to come.

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On Monday when we went to take the boys outside to play a package was on our doorstep. I immediately noticed it was not an ordinary box (in a good way). This box was covered in lots of fun stickers and things to make me even more excited about the contents from Kim & Jason of Lemonade Stand and Escape Adulthood. When I went inside I was blown away with how it was packaged. Here is a collage of the photos of the box and the goodies waiting for me inside.

BTW – in case you were wondering what it was that was inside the box it was the book Living Out Loud – Activities to fuel a creative life by Keri Smith. It really looks like a fun read – I can not wait to get a good look at it. Thanks again to Kim and Jason for all of the surprises inside and out of the box!