Tye Dye and Peanut Butter

Harper was hanging out in her room baking a pretend cake which made me think, duh...we could make a real cake.  So we headed downstairs to whip up a box mix.  Then to spice it up a little bit, we divided out some of the icing, added a little food coloring, and now we had an art project.

"Look at all the colors Mommy!"

"That's a good cupcake"

The final product...Totally 80's cupcake

We used half the mix to make cupcakes and I tossed the other half into a cake pan.  To liven it up a little I mixed a little peanut butter into the remaining vanilla icing, and viola...chocolate-peanut butter cake.

All in all, a really good way to spend a Wednesday night

Friends, Feet Phones and Hammer

About once a day I am hit with the realization that Harper is growing up way faster than I am ready for her to.  She's so smart, caring and silly, it's amazing to me.  This is just a photo dump of some things that have caused me to realize how quickly my little girl is growing up.

Friends
She's getting much better at playing with her friends, not just next to her friends.

At a recent birthday party.  She had a blast eating cake, and bouncing in the bounce houses with her friends from daycare.

We have a weekly playdate with the neighbors.  Harper and Ruby love to play together each week and often spend the evening chasing each other around.

Imagination

She plays pretend more than anything else.  Her favorites are airplane, grocery store, and pirates.  

Hi Mommy, How are you?  I'm good.  I'm talking to you on my feet phone.  Okay, Bye!

Helping

She loves helping us do whatever we are doing.  She helps me cook all the time.  This can often lead to tantrums when she wants to help us with something and we don't realize it.  She instantly breaks down in tears instead of just telling us she wants to help.  We're working on that one.

We bought a new shelving system and Harper got to help Joe hammer it together.  It was the best part of her day.

Friday Confessions

Sharing my Friday confessions curtesy of Mrs. Eycansee

Sometimes I lock myself in the bathroom claiming I have to go #2 when really I want some peace and quiet to play words with friends or read blogs on my phone.

I almost always fall asleep while Harper watches her Saturday morning cartoons...the very definition of using the TV as a baby sitter.  This working momma is tired.

I'm in a coffee club at work and one of the members is my principal.  He and I are the only ones who use cream so we take turns buying it.  Whenever it's his turn he never does it in a timely manner so I would always break down and buy another carton.  The last time I bought a box of those mini cup creamers that I kept secreted away in my room until he was finally forced to buy it because he needed it. Petty, I know..but he makes waaaay more than me and needs to pony up already.

Joe and I were supposed to go to a hockey game last Monday night.  Instead I suggested he ask a buddy, claiming I didn't want to pay a sitter.  Really I just wanted to watch TV by myself all night.

My Dad had to have a minor surgery on his hand Monday, and since I didn't have to work I volunteered to take him.  I was glad that I got to do it because usually my sister would do something like that, but this time I got to have the bonding time with my dad.  She's definitely the daddy's girl, but that day he was all mine. (Love you Mel!)

Next month I have a trip planned to visit Mrs. Eyecansee.  I prefer to go visit her in KC cause then I get her all to myself.  When she comes here I have to share her with all the other people who want to see her while she's in town.

I prefer fruity, chewy candies over chocolate.  Give me skittles and starbursts of snickers any day!

What secrets do you need to get off your chest?

Things Teachers Hope

That students will find your subject even a fraction as interesting as you do.

That the severe wind chill advisory means you will get a two hour delay in the morning.

That you get to see one light bulb go off each day as a kid understands something new.

That when the students play "Guess how old the teacher is" they guess at least 3 years younger than your actual age.

That students will see the real world applications of what they are learning in the classroom.

That at holiday time you only get baked goods from the cleanest, least smelly students.

That your colleagues are as passionate about teaching as you are.

That your most annoying student will be absent on the day when you have a pounding headache.

That each day of teaching will bring one moment that makes you smile and make all the crap you put up with totally worthwhile.

Adios

About 3 months ago Joe started talking up the idea of giving up our Direct TV and going with Internet TV.  At first it sounded like one of those fads that comes and goes like giant Boombox radios and My So Called Life.  One day when we were out he bought an Apple TV and started up a free subscription to Hulu Plus and Netflix.  Then some more time went by and he never cancelled them so now we were paying for those plus our Direct TV.  Well I told him after the football season we should bite the bullet and try it out.  So past the weekend after the Bengals peed down their legs we pulled the plug on our Direct TV.  Here's how it's going so far:

• Pro: The biggest is obviously the money savings.  We were paying around 100 a month.  Now for hulu plus and netflix, plus we had to upgrade our Internet, so now we're paying 30 a month.  There have been some upfront costs, like the Apple TV box and we need to get a new router, but those costs should re-coup after a few months.
• Con: The biggest for me is I can't just sit down and channel surf.  Most of the shows we used to watch can be found on hulu or netflix, and with our laptop we can mirror play anything streamed from the Internet, so we really do have access to everything.  The problem is finding it all. Oh yeah, and the mirror play sucks.  We haven't figured out how to make it work without jumping. The shows I can't find so far are Top Chef, which totally bums me out, and the most recent How I Met Your Mother.  
• Pro: I can now watch shows that I didn't watch from the beginning in massive amounts.  I always wanted to watch Parenthood, but I didn't start in the beginning, and I knew it wouldn't be the same if I just picked it up a few seasons in.  Now I've made it thought the whole first season and half the second in about a week.  I can just sit down and watch them whenever I want.  Love the show!  Joe had done the same thing with Breaking Bad.
• Con:  They don't have Disney on either Netflix or Hulu.  This means Harper suffers the most.  We no longer have instant access to Jake and the Neverland pirates.  They have minimal episodes on Disney Junior.com but that means she would have to watch on the computer until we can figure out how to get the mirror play working.  This will make our weekend mornings a little rough when we depend on Disney Junior to help us through the waking up process at 6:30 am.

So far, it's not too bad.  Obviously there's a learning curve for anything.  Anyone else have any Internet TV tips?