Out of the mouths of babes Post No #485

During a rambling conversation during breakfast that included the words muffin and top and then muffin top, I hiked up my shirt enough to show my daughter my permanent "tatoos" that she and her siblings gave me.

She looked up at me and said "Oh Maman. Those are sleep wrinkles."

I have to remember that one when I go for my physical next month.

The morning after and the night before

It's now the day before the night of Hallows Eve. We've had snow. We've had pumpkins. We've had ... good weather? Go figure. I'm confused.

Just as I scrambled to clothes the four children, it starts to turn nice. Arg.

And, just for fun, The Huz and CUs decided to gut the pumpkins last night (thank small gods, 'cause I thought I was going to have to do them, and if I did, lets just say it wasn't going to be pretty).

But, all ended ... mostly well. (The ghost of children who should be sleeping!)

Diwali this

It was that kind of weekend. Mixed with so many things to do, I satisfyingly struck one thing off after another, with a few hick-ups in between.

I've criss-crossed my neighborhood a couple of times this weekend. Art classes, hair cuts, and photo ops. Even had time to getting sick at Loblaws, rush home for a pick-me-up nap, and recover sufficiently to go out to the movies with CUs 2 and 3 (High School Musical is in the theatres, ugh. What I'll do for love.) All of this through a pouring rain.

Came home, watched High School Musical one that was on TV (hadn't seen that one yet) and called it a day, a very late day.

Sunday morning. Apparently I missed a visit from the Latter Day Saints. Too bad I was in church. I guess they were looking for the Pagan. He was helping a friend refurbish his newly purchased crack house.

The day was much more pleasant that its predecessor, so I made hay while the sun shined. Farmed out a couple of kids, brayed at CU-1 for not bringing home his duo-tang that had his study materials (the kid only has a test Tuesday), helped a friend with her marketing materials, and sent the fourth child unit to bed (he napped for three hours, I guess he needed it).

I hit the panic button when, around 4 this afternoon, a neighborhood kid was sent scouting to see if I was going to the Diwali Festival. Here I was up to my knees in Cedar Tree (I took one out last week. It was less then a foot from the house, leaning and dying. I want to replace it with a Magnolia within two years.)

Crap-and-a-half. Yes. I wanted to. Oh ratz. I guess he's never seen me loose it, as I heard from his Mom that he reported "I was having a bad day". Um, that's putting it lightly.

I did go. I didn't take all my kids. The Huz kind of got dumped on for that one. I did collect another neighborhood kid and we did truck off for a lovely walk, great food (I heard Indian Express), and a fun time.







Oh, and I'm still not done the Foghorn costume.
I'm saving that panic attack for Monday night.

Can't say that

So this is my last week of freedom to work. As October turns to November, I'll be returning to the gulag that I fondly call my French class. Though it's something I wished on for years and years (to get enough intensive language classes to finally *get it*), I'm not looking forward to the change of schedule, the smallish classroom, and the inability to structure my day as I see fit.

The Huz just hit that one home as he said to his daughter "Bienvenue" in return of her "Merci". In this province, "Bienvenue" means a couple of things, mostly "Welcome", though, over there, in Québec it is used as "thank you" too. (Thus where I must have picked it up.)

I've been trying to deprogram myself for the last six weeks. Habits are hard to break.

Maybe I should take up smoking ...

They were busy

Regrettably it doesn't get much clearer then this. It was bed time. It was late. They were busy.

The "Road Runner" is having a few problems in that she wants Wile E. to actually get her and have her for lunch. Knowing this Wile E.'s appetite, I'm sure she'd start as a snack.

I'll post Foghorn when he's done. I just didn't get to it tonight and tomorrow's not looking so good now either.

Thanksgiving day fall-out

So I finally uploaded the pictures from my camera (all 174 of them) and found a bit of evidence of last weekend's activities that pass muster for posting here:

and, before the sewing machine died ...



I've been doing hand sewing ever since. (Though I've been able to secure a back-up sewing machine tonight from my yoga instructor!)

(She's still missing a tail, and then there's the matter of velcro to close up the suit ... details, just minor details).

Out of the mouths of babes

CU-3 on the topic of birthdays and age:

"39 is, like, not a lot. Then you turn 40, and BAM, you're old."

Questions and answers

In the previous post Grandma C recommends that instead of baby cakes, which ARE too much work (I only made four), that I switch gears and go for pumpkin cakes. I think we fair-haired maidens think alike, 'cause after four of the infinks or by the time it was 10:30 p.m. , I'd gotten fed up enough trying to make suitable "sleeping eyes" that I gave up and called it quits on that side of the project.


That last one has a baby bottle in/near it's mouth. The others are screaming.
Right, I did make a bunch of baby pumpkins (having bought orange food coloring at Bulk Barn this past week for the impending pumpkin patch CU-2 and I are making for the after church coffee half-hour), so I thought I'd try it out. They worked out loverly. Though I still have a bunch more cakes to spread, it's just going to be easier, at least until we do the super deluxe version with the sparkly orange sugar this weekend.

Perpetual Chocoholic asks when I find time to make cakes, well, I'm just not making the Hallowe'en costumes right now, so I've got time.

Seriously though, I've been trying to avoid French homework, and the Ikea bag stuffed with socks that need to be paired (I might take the sock bag with me on the three day vacation ...). It's amazing the amount of time I can free not doing either of these activities!

4 babies, two terries and half a dozen pumpkins later

Sounds like the starts of a bad joke. On me that is ...

My neighbor (whom, I will admit, I don't know well) is now three days over due to have her home birth. (Ugh and ugh.)

Her son sometimes comes over to play with my brood, so I feel like I know her, at least in sympathy.

So, as a way to say "welcome to the neighborhood" to her and her soon-to-be-born, I've been working on a scheme to decorate her house with a couple of balloons, a banner and a pair of baby socks (hey we're in a recession here).

I've also planned to make "baby cakes" for her from the Hello cupcake recipe book I've previously mentioned (see owl picture below).

Holey F. are those things complicated to make. Well, not complicated, a bit picky and I don't have the patience to try and tweeze ON eyebrows on a dozen of these, er babies. Instead, I did four. (Picture to follow during daylight, pictures taking is just better then.)

When I gave up on the babies, I did two Yorkies. I think they look kind of messed up, The Huz thinks they do look like a Yorkie we know (not mine. I don't do dogs at the moment. Isn't three cats, a hamster and four kids enough ;-).

So, they'll go to the Yorkie owner tomorrow. We'll see if they get giggled to death or make it there kind of sort of looking like something.

Then there was the left over frosting that I tinted. Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up this weekend and I needed to do a test run to see what the pumpkins might look like. Desperate is a word I'd use to describe them. Though, once they got the stem in, they kind of looked cute.

If I have time to bake and frost a dozen baby cupcakes later this week, I just might send them with CU-3 for the after-school program ... That's a pretty bit IF.