All The Preparation in the World Can't Help Me...

  Well Friends, sorry I haven't blogged lately. A lot has gone on..some interesting..some not so much. Tonight was my baking night. Valentines Day  is tomorrow and I had the bright idea of making cupcakes for Peytons class. Some of you might remember that I actually practiced for this event. I had all these wonderful ideas in my head. During practice I made ladybug cupcakes. They turned out cute but I thought I might get carpal tunnel after making about the 10th one and getting the candy hearts to stick to the licorice pieces for the antennas was nerve racking! So I had it in my head that I would do something simpler. Also during practice I had made raspberry frosting and cherry frosting for yellow cake. The kids vetoed them :( So tonight I made red velvet cake and made the cream cheese frosting from scratch. It actually turned out yummmmmmmmy!!! I thought to myself ..this is really going well tonight! I should not of gotten ahead of myself. I took the cupcakes out of the oven a little too early so the nice puffed tops that I thought I had ended up sinking a little. BUT I had my ace in the hole. I had my super yummy frosting!! I figured the frosting would cover up any imperfections. I really wanted to pile the frosting high and then I had these heart sprinkles, as well as Xs and Os, sanding sugars etc. I was almost giddy thinking how cute they would turn out.    .....    This, my friends is where it ALL went wrong. I took the frosting out of the frig where I had put it to firm up some and it was at that moment that I said outloud "I should tint this!!" : /   So I put the bowl back on the Kitchenaid stand and get out my gel colorings and added just a bit of pink to the frosting. Mix it up....B-E-A-U-tiful!! Everyone crowds around to oooohhh and ahhhhh over it. I'm the best, most smartest mom in the world!!! It was at that moment that Madison says "Oh mom that little jar is knocked over"....that 'little jar' is the food coloring. It's gel so it made a nice big blob on my WHITE counter. The deer in headlights eyes come out! I said grab something HELP! I pick up the jar just as Madison grabs my white kitchen towel and SMEARS the red food coloring gel all over the counter. ZOINKS!! Jeff is sitting at the opposite side of the counter on the computer just staring at us. I don't know if he was in shock or just restraining himself from seriously hurting me. Either way I can honestly say I don't or wouldn't of blamed him. So I get out clorox wipes, baking soda, vinegar..I'm throwing EVERYTHING on this stuff (and in the mean time also manage to fling the toothpick I had used to add the coloring to the frosting on the floor where it bounced off of Madisons Ugg boot---cue the conniptions!!!!  "AAhhhhh, MOM they are ruined!!!! RUINED!!!"---and there goes the best, smartest mom in the world status..it happens just that quick folks) Jeff stands up finally and says "What are you doing making a volcano? Please stop." ...the baking soda and vinegar did foam up quite nicely :)
So he gently removes me from my kitchen and goes to work cleaning my mess..while I seek out the computer to research cleaning methods. You know what it came up with? Shaving cream. Jeff wouldn't let me put it on the kitchen counter, but I did put it on Madison's boot. All I can say about this remedy is...They lied. My hands reek of shaving cream too, which totally ruins the affect of licking frosting off your hands. By this time my hero Jeff, totally removed the red coloring from the counter with an SOS pad and elbow grease..although I think my concoctions helped!! I went back to decorating cupcakes but by then my thrill was gone!! I plopped two hearts on top of each one and called it a night. Really at this point I don't even know if I will let Peyton take them in the morning. Should of just hit up WalMart instead....yea I'm in that kind of pissy mood.

On a much better note. Yesterday was the end of the fundraiser for our dear friend Joey McAlduff. He was diagnosed with cancer and had been undergoing treatments at DUKE 5 days a week for the last several weeks. It ended a little while ago tho and that is why we chose the drawing day to be what is was. So he could come. Tickets were $5.00 each and the winner of the first ticket drawn could choose from either a 1/2 carat diamond or a Browning shotgun. Then the second ticket drawn got whatever the 1st person didn't choose. The fundraiser was a great success!! People not only bought the tickets but many people also just donated money!! All the funds raised went to Joey and his family to offset their medical bills. They were sooo appreciative and really I just thought it was such a beautiful thing to see how many people were willing to donate!! Jeff and I used Facebook to reach out to people and tell them about the fundraiser and so many people that we went to High School with responded. People that we and I'm sure Joey, haven't seen in 15 years! Wonderful news too is that Joeys doctors are very optomistic!!

So now it is off to tuck in the kiddos. Jeff my hero , has lost his lofty title tonight too, seeing as how at this very moment he is making a cake. I know he is just doing it to rub it in my face that it doesn't have to be a difficult task. Bet HE doesn't tint his frosting....chicken!
 XOXO

 

Hey, it's ME!!

Hey y'all! I really don't know if anyone will be reading this or not but just in case, let me introduce myself. My name is Victoria, Tori for short. I am the stay at home mom of 4 beautiful, crazy, smart, drive me nuts kids! There is Kaitlyn 13, Madison 10, Peyton 6, and Dylan 4. I've been a stay at home mom for 10 years!! Really, I'm lucky..blessed in fact..although it doesn't always FEEL that way! The other day another stay at home mom friend of mine mentioned how she should write a book with all of her families adventures and the wise person that I am suggested she start a blog! The more I started thinking of it, the more it started to sound like a good idea for me too! A place where I can write down all of the crazy, pull my hair out antics that my kids do. A place for me to vent so to speak. I figure it's like scrapbooking, only less expensive and time consuming..and one day my kids can look back and realize just how good they had it with me as their mom! It will be great for my scattered brain as well, since I swear I lost brain cells after each child.

So, where to start?? I guess with today :) My day usually starts at 6:45am. That is when my alarm goes off so I can wake the kids up to get ready for school. Truthfully tho I am up at 5:30 when my husbands alarm goes off and I have to wake up to walk around to his side of the bed to turn it off and then shake him awake. The man could sleep through a tornado!! I then lay back down, wait 10 minutes and then kick him to make him get up. Then I pretend to be asleep until I hear the front door shut. The pretending is NECESSARY! If he knew I was awake then he would say "Tori, will you grab me a towel while I'm in the shower" "Tori, find me something to wear" "Tori, will you get me a pair of socks out of the sock basket?" "Tori, where is my belt?" :/ So you see, pretending to be asleep is NECESSARY!! I really feel like I'm doing him a favor, helping him on his path of self sufficiency! Feel free ladies to steal this grand idea from me! I am all about sharing ;)

But as I was saying..I wake the kids up at 6:45am. Then start making lunches. At 7:00am I yell upstairs and tell them to get their butts in gear and get downstairs. Then they come down finally, eat a bowl of cereal, get dressed, and if you can believe it-- we are out the door by 7:30am!! Not bad huh? I have it down to a science. Yeah it requires me running around like a crazy person, barking orders, but if I woke my kids up any earlier...umm..no..It would NOT be pretty! Kaitlyn is in the 7th grade ..even tho her school is further away we drop her off first. She has to be there at 8am. My other 2 girls have to be at their school at 8:15. Then it's just me and Dylan. We usually come back home and take a nap..ahhhh yeah...SLEEP!!! It's a good thing! That hour or so of sleep does wonders for the two of us the rest of the day. I know some ppl might would take their nap later on..say after lunch. But that just interferes with the rest of my day. Isn't this enlightening reading? Are you wondering right now how you ever survived without knowing about my morning routine?? I know..and you're welcome :)

Anyway, after our morning nap, Dylan and I took off to Michaels Craft Store. I really WANT to be a crafty person. I like the stores ..I like the items.. I like buying the crafts...the DOING part is what always seems to get me :/ My mother is extremely crafty..and artistic..it's kind of annoying actually how good she is at stuff and how confident she is in knowing she can have an idea and just go create it. I am not crafty or artistic, but I like to pretend I am. I have GREAT ideas!! I see things in my head and then rush out to the craft store and buy everything and then come home and get to work and then spend the next hour or 2 cussing under my breath at how it never turns out and telling the kids to quit using up all the oxygen in the room, because I swear I hold my breath when I work on things and of course they are all crowding around me watching my struggle.

Today Valentines was on my mind. I really want to make cupcakes for my kids classes. Cupcakes might be an easy thing, but when you are a mentally visionary crafty person like myself, nothing is easy. I want them to look like I went to the bakery and bought them, so that I can beam proudly and tell the teacher that I did it all by myself! Today I bought different flavoring oils, coloring gels, 3 different kinds of cupcake liners, and 4 different sprinkles, and some candies. I wanted to practice my ideas tho before they were actually needed for Valentines Day so that I could perfect them and save myself the mumbled cussing and panic attacks. The kids were getting out of school early today, so I figured it would be the perfect day to bake, since I would have all this extra time today with them...course nothing ever works out the way I plan.

My husband Jeff called me as I was leaving Michaels and on my way to go pick the kids up from school, to tell me that his friend called and has ONE extra ticket to the NCSU basketball game tonight and I "wouldn't mind if he went would I?" Of course not. :/ Well great..now he wants me to run home and find his tennis shoes, his levis, his NCSU hat and if I can't find his shirt then go buy him one and bring it to him at work. Soooo..I go pick up the kids run to the house..find one of his tennis shoes in our closet, the other one in the front hall closet..no hat...no shirt..grab 3 pairs of levis, certain ONE of them has to be the right one and not taking any chances..then go to the mall and hit up 3 different stores to finally find the LAST NCSU long sleeve shirt! After I dropped it all off to him and wished him a fun evening (not even feeling jealous..ha aha ha ha) I stopped at the grocery store and got cake mix and frosting..then home to bake. By this time it was the normal time the kids would of been home. So much for all that extra time I was gonna have today. But that is ok..I was on a mission. We got home...did homework...cleaned our kitchen work area and made some cupcakes..Yea...they were ..cute...but puppy dogs are cute..I want them to be AWE-some..so I'm gonna have to practice some more. We made some with Raspberry icing, Cherry icing, and Vanilla icing. Guess which ones the kids liked best? Vanilla. .... They clearly do not have my culinary palate and vision. I really want to take one of those Wilton cake classes one day...I figure if I'm ever going to open up my dream bakery one day I will need to know how to do that kind of stuff really well :) 

The rest of my night was kind of blah..made hamburgers and fries for the kids, watched Sky High..argued with my teenager..who ..UGH..acts like a teenager...and started this blog :) It's 9:40pm now and all the kids are in bed..either asleep or pretending to be (pretty sure my teenager is upstairs texting). Jeff isn't home from the game yet..So I'm just enjoying the quiet..I think I might like this blogging thing..it's kind of relaxing..course now that I've explained my titillating morning routine I'll have to think of other exciting things to tell you about..good thing there is always something going on here at the Sullivan house :)