Tysons Cake

Tyson had his birthday party on Saturday. He is too big to have "theme" parties, but he still wanted a cool cake. He asked for an army battle cake - you heard right, a battle cake. Now, I could have just put some army men on top of a cake and called it good, but where is the fun in that? I called lots of friends and family and asked them for ideas - thanks everybody- and here is the result.

**disclaimer - It could have been a lot better, I know. My friend Kim gave me awesome ideas and let me borrow her decorating tips and even gave me some fondant - I did not have the energy for all of that, maybe next time. If my awesome cousin Christine would come and teach me all her magic cake decorating skills the next one will be even better; and I'm sure there will be a next one.

The defenders of the hill - chocolate teddy grahams. The marshmallows are boulders, the pretzels with fruit roll ups are trees and the pretzels at the bottom is a fence. Oh and that's a cannon on the top with raisinettes for cannon balls.

The attackers - honey teddy grahams. They are camped out in their thicket of trees, and some of the men are dug into their fox holes. Some of the men were unfortunately killed when the enemy rolled the boulders down the hill. And at the very back an enemy spy has infiltrated their ranks.

Thought to ponder: what kind of cake would Tyson have asked for, if his dad wasn't in the Army and he wasn't obsessed with all things military?

Pinewood Derby

So after Tysons quick party we headed to the church for our wards first ever Pinewood Derby. You heard right, our first ever; we never had a track until our new awesome leaders built one this year. Lucky for Tyson it landed on his last official day of being a Cubscout. I feel bad that he only got to participate in one, but thats the brakes when your ward isn't very Scout oriented.

Since it was his last pack meeting as a Cub Scout he also had his crossing over ceremony to Boy Scouts. Now without ranting and raving about my frustrations with our Scout program, let me just simply say that no one told me this was happening and I was completely unaware of what I needed to buy for him. So he didn't get a new scout shirt or hankercheif or whatever it was that he was suppose to have, he wasn't even in full uniform. Whatever. Just another example of how Tyson has been jipped (I wanted to use stronger language about this situation but I won't) in his scouting career. At least he barely earned his Webelos badge (thanks to me doing everything), even if he didn't get his Arrow of Light. I'm not at all bitter, can you tell :-}

I couldn't get very good pictures because my battery was dead and I only had time to snap one quick picture before the camera turned off again. Here are Tyson and Zach's cars racing each other. They probably would have tied but Zach dropped his car right before the races and one of his axels got bent a little. So Tyson's won by a hair, but they were still good sports about it.

When all was said and done Tyson got 2nd place and Zach got 3rd place out of 5 cars (I had to say how many cars there were because if they got 2nd and 3rd and there were only 3 cars that wouldn't be very impressive). I'll get a picture of them holding their cars later, the battery officially died after I took this picture. They had a great time making their cars with their dad. Can't wait for next years Derby!! - oh wait maybe we can since dad will be deployed and mom will have to make the cars - that could be a problem :-(

Ty turns 11

My first born is now 11. HOLY COW!!! His actual birth day was a little low key because it was the same night as pack meeting/pine wood derby, so the festivities were short and sweet. No worries, he has a party with friends on Saturday. So the first order of the day was to deliver the cupcakes I made for his class. I got the idea to make rainbow cupcakes from my favorite cooking blog, Our Best Bites (link on the right of the blog), and Tyson thought the idea was cool. So off I went on my fun baking adventure. It was fun, but it takes forever to do the layers; almost 2 1/2 hours from start to finish. But aren't they amazing? And they tasted great too!!

A little mouthful of rainbow goodness!!

After his birthday dinner of Pizza Hut Pizza (he and Ron are the only ones who like Pizza Hut, so I ate a salad and Emma and Zach suffered through it - all pizza is not created equal!) we quickly opened presents. He loves the quilt from grandma (already slept with it) and is excited to spend the money she sent too :-)

He loves the computer simulation games where you create civilizations and have them battle each other. I found this one and he is really excited about it.

I really wanted him to ask for this game. When Andy and Jenna came to visit for Easter they brought this game with them. It is soooo much fun and I have wanted to play it ever since. So I was thrilled when he asked for it.

Now, if you will recall all electronic privileges have been taken away from the kids. I found it very ironic that those were what he asked for, knowing he couldn't play them. So needless to say he is going a little crazy and is already accusing me of torture. But hey, if that's what he wants for his birthday that's what he is going to get. But don't worry, he will get to play the Wii game at his party because we are having a Wii sport competition. They are excited to get to play the Wii again, it's been almost a month since they last played.

Oh, and I forgot to mention what he really wanted for his birthday - his own cell phone!! He says that all of the kids in his class have one so he needs one too. I told him "no way jose!!" We do have an extra cell phone that acts like our home number. Its mostly used when we have babysitters so that they have a phone to call us with. So I told him if there was ever a situation where he justifiably needed one he could take that phone with him. He wasn't thrilled with that idea. We told him when he is 12 and can pay for the extra line, then we'll talk. We'll see if it happens.

Family Bike Ride

Okay, so I know I said that we went on a family bike ride last week, but really it was me and the kids and Ron walked with the dog. Why is that, do you ask? Because Ron use to be a cyclist (raced and all) so he is very picky about bikes, and his bike died a few years ago. So the nutshell is that we don't have the extra money to buy him a great bike, and he hasn't found a cheap one that he liked. Well, today he finally found one!!! I think he conceded mostly because he was sick of the kids and I bugging him about not having a bike. So today, we officially went on a family bike ride, and I toted the camera around my neck so we could get proof!!

I got my bike last year for Mothers Day, and this year for Mothers Day I got the bike trailer for Tess.

Tess loves it. She loves feeling the wind on her face and in her hair. And who could blame her? Especially when she is decked out with juice and goldfish!!

I convinced Ron to let our dog Hailey come along for the fun, so she ran with him. Our friend Jon is on the skateboard. From left to right its Zach, Jon, Emma, Ty and then Hailey & Ron. Mom of course is taking up the rear.

Cruising down the road and loving the fun!!

Latest Creation

Last week I was motivated to make a baby blanket, and decided to do one for a boy. So after picking out fabrics (with the help of my friends - thanks Melinda and Tamara) I started to work. Today I finished it and I absolutely love it!! Ron thinks it looks like its from the 70's, but what does he know!!! I think its adorable - and there were no major catastrophes making it, so I am extremely happy with the whole experience!

Folded in half

The whole thing, it fits a crib perfectly.

ENTERING OUR 3RD WEEK

We started a new regime around here over 2 weeks ago. Ron called it a re-do or a do-over. We were having continuous problems with the kids that weren't getting any better. Pretty basic stuff, but just getting out of control; fighting, not answering when called, ignoring parents all together, tunnel vision on electronics and t.v., and the biggest problem of all - deceit and conniving when it came to privileges that had been taken away.

So Ron decided that we needed to go drastic. Almost all privileges were taken away. We left them with the basics: beds, clothes, food, books, bikes, art supplies and their choice of one toy - and I mean one toy. We made a list of chores (or as Ron calls them, tasks) that they had to do at each time of day. If they completed these for an entire week without any yelling or coercing from parents, then they would earn another privilege back for the next week. The last privileges to be earned back are the t.v. and their electronics - D.S., playstation, Wii, and computer. All of their toys were hauled up to the attic so they wouldn't be a temptation.

Now you might be asking, how did the kids react? I was expecting WW3 honestly. But I think the key was how Ron explained it to them. He just said that we didn't like the way our family was going and that we needed to fix it. So we were starting fresh. The kids accepted it pretty easily. The boys even helped put all their toys in the attic. The one exception is Tess, she still gets to watch her cartoons in the morning and she gets all of her toys to play with.

So the result is amazing!!! That first week was the best week we have had in a VERY long time. There is little or no fighting. The kids are helpful and obedient. Bedroom cleanup takes seconds instead of hours and something else happened that I did not expect.

The son who wasn't a big reader is almost done with his first novel!! He is completely addicted, and I am thrilled!!!!

Tyson was already a great reader, but he has now finished 2 full series of books - go Ty!

We listen to this A LOT MORE! And I have realized that music is a HUGE calming influence on me, which makes everyone happy. We even play music in the background during dinner.

And Emma finally took the time to learn how to ride her bike without training wheels and she hasn't fallen once!! Last night we had a family bike ride to the park and she made it the whole way - so much fun!!

And our cute Tess is still the same, and plays great all by herself in her room. Gotta love that!

I was terrified that this could be a HUGE disaster and a major stress factor for me but it turned out to be the opposite. When the kids don't know what to do, I just point at the chore list. And when they have done everything they are suppose to, there is more time for family fun and relaxation. Great idea honey, thanks!!

Emma finally did it!!

Emma has delayed learning how to ride her bike without training wheels for almost 2 years now. Last summer the excuse was that her daddy wasn't here. This spring she was out of excuses. She started practicing on Zach's old bike but whenever she got too scared she would just hop back on her bike. Well, finally a few weeks ago she started getting the hang of it, and today was the day it became official - she did it with no help!! She got lots of encouragement from the other kids on the street, and she is so PROUD of herself. We are also very proud of our big girl!!