It's birthday cake time again!

I can’t believe my baby is about to be 5. Monday is the big day, but on Sunday we’ll be having a mini party for her with my mom, and I’m making the cake. I’ve made all but her first birthday cake, which was made by Nana but designed by me. I think I’m actually starting to get pretty good, and thankfully have kept pictures of all of them. So now, a gallery of past cakes, and the inspiration for this year’s. I promise to post pictures of the finished cake after Sunday!

First Birthday - Luau theme, palm tree cake for adults with mini hula girls for the kids.


Second Birthday - JoJo’s Circus theme, and my first attempt at fondant




Third Birthday - Cinderella theme, and the most elaborate so far.




Forth Birthday - Princess theme with a crown cake and mini crown cakes for the kids to decorate.




Fifth Birthday - Ariel doll cake - This is the inspiration

The Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday I got to go with her class to the pumpkin patch. They took a class picture, then we loaded up on a hayride pulled by a tractor, saw tons of farm animals and Christmas trees (it's also a Christmas tree farm), then set off to find the perfect pumpkin. After picking out her pumpkin she played on the swings and ran through the maze, and then we headed back for "pumpkin juice" (pretty sure it was orange koolaid or gatorade) and trail mix. She seemed to have a blast, and I'm so glad the weather held out and I was able to go with her!

Oh, the week we've had!

Last Wednesday when I went to pick her up from carpool, I was told that her teacher, Mrs. Walker, needed to see me. When I stopped by, I was told that she’s been having a problem with Cadence having tantrums over very minor things, and that she had been in the office the last two days (and they weren’t there on Monday for Columbus Day.) Tuesday she was sent because she didn’t want to get in the circle to talk to the Spanish teacher, and then when she did, she sat with her back to the teacher and her arms crossed. Wednesday she was sent because she had a few tantrums throughout the day, and her teacher has now enacted a “zero tolerance” policy on tantrums - if she throws one, it’s straight to the office. I talked with her teacher and the preschool director that day, and we decided that if she has a tantrum, she goes straight to the office, and if she goes to the office she gets brought to me. If that happens, it’s straight home - no apologies, no negotiations, nothing. She loves school, so we’ve taken the approach that getting to go to big girl school is a privilege, and if she can’t act like a big girl she goes to the babysitter’s.

After our talks and laying down the rules, she was an angel on Thursday. Friday, however, was a different story. She had a mini tantrum over not getting the color pencil she wanted, but her teacher said she calmed down and got control very quickly so they didn’t send her to the office. When it was time to leave, they gave out the Cookie Award, and her best friend got it. That sent her into hysterics, but since it was carpool time, they didn’t send her to the office.

Now, about the Cookie Award. It’s a special thing they give to one student each week who has been helpful, cooperates and is overall a good citizen. Wee One hasn’t gotten it at all yet, because she’s done nothing but throw tantrums! There are only 9 kids in her class, and I found out from her teacher on Friday that it’s down to mine and one other kid to get it - and he’s a Japanese exchange student that speaks very little English. Mrs. Walker said that there’s no doubt in her mind that he will get it, but she’s not sure he’s really going to understand what it’s for or why he got it. So, it’s basically down to mine. And she’s been acting like a little toot and is running the risk of not getting it at all!! Her teacher says she won’t repeat any kids until everyone has gotten it, but with the way Cadence has been, we’re not sure when she’ll have a good enough week to get it.

Cadence and I both had another talk with Mrs. Walker on Friday, and she said that she REALLY wants Cadence to be the one to get it this week. So we made a sticker chart at home, and every day that she was good at school this past week, we’ve put a fairy princess sticker on it. The chart even says “No Tantrums!” and “No, No, No Ever Go To The Office!” (she picked the wording.) As of right now there are 4 stickers on it, and today is the big day. I also told her that if she comes home with the Cookie Award today, that I will buy her the new Princess Tiana Polly Pocket set she’s dying to have instead of making her wait to see if she gets it for her birthday. I’m curious to see if she has it today when I pick her up in about 45 minutes. Please, Please, Please let her have it!!

We’ve had some problems at home, though, during this. The kicker came Tuesday night when I told her to pick up her toys so we could get ready for bed. She told me no, so I told her she needed to pick them up, or I was going to (which means either put up for a REALLY long time, or thrown away.) She stood up, put her hands on her hips and said “I don’t know and I don’t care! How about that?” I almost slapped her at that point, but instead picked her up, gave her a spanking and put her straight to bed. I also told her that her toys were getting put up and she’d have to earn them back. She was FURIOUS with me, and cried (or rather, screamed) herself to sleep, but too bad so sad Princess. Wednesday night she did help out a lot around the house, and she cleaned the dining room, picked up her toys in the living room, helped me put up her clothes in her room and helped me set and clear the table. I gave her the toys back, but warned her that if she EVER talked to me like that again, they were going away and she wouldn’t get them back as easily next time. The child is going to drive me crazy!

*******************************

WE GOT IT!!! She was just a little excited when I picked her up!

A wonderful weekend

This weekend has been wonderful. Mike and I headed to Louisiana to spend the weekend alone and watch the LSU game. We got to Hammond about noon on Saturday, checked into the hotel, then headed to Baton Rouge to see a movie. We saw Zombieland, and it was amazing! Afterwards we found a place to watch the end of the Ole Miss game (poor team couldn't catch a break), and hung around to watch LSU and Florida. Unfortunately, the highlight of the night was the two guys at the table in front of us who couldn't hold on to their glasses. The Tigers played like a crappy high school team, so we left at halftime and headed back to Hammond.

After a great night's sleep in a massively huge bed, we ate breakfast at iHop and headed back to get Cadence. We got to see everyone at Mike's church since it was homecoming, and then headed home. I had homemade soup and cornbread for dinner (great since it was so cold outside), made cupcakes with Wee One, and then she READ A BOOK TO ME! Her teacher sent home a book for her to read, and then she has to draw a picture of her favorite part. She read it to me, answered the questions at the end, then read it to her daddy and answered his questions as well. It's hard to believe my baby is reading, and that was definitely the best part of the night. The weekend couldn't have ended any better!

I want to send lots of prayers and wishes to Kahla, and I can't wait to post that sweet Baby Emery is here safe and sound. She is supposed to be induced bright and early in the morning, so hopefully I'll have a new "niece" soon!

*************************************
Just an update to say that Baby Emery is HERE!!! She was born October 12 at 6:41 pm and is absolutely beautiful! Congratulations Kahla, Jeff and Big Brother Chase!!!

She's an artist!

A few weeks ago, Wee One’s teacher told her she was an artist. Out of all the things Mrs. Henely has told her, this is the one that has really stuck out to her. She’ll draw pictures, then after I comment on how good they are (and maybe I’m biased, but I do think they’re good!), she’ll tell me “It’s because I’m an artist!” She’s been drawing pictures all weekend, and drew one that I thought was really good. I want you to guess what it is, but I’ll give you a hint: I have a daughter that loves all things princesses. Now guess!












In case you couldn’t guess, it’s Cinderella’s carriage and horses on a road, with her ABC’s above (and on) it. (She’s so proud she can write all of her abc’s, and that they are actually legible.) She told me that her horses looked kinda like spiders, but they were really horses. :) I so want to get her in an art class, and hope that we can soon. We debated between it and ballet, and she insisted on ballet. Maybe soon we can convince her that being an artist would be awesome, too!

School photos

Here are the two that I ordered. They are blurry because the proofs were printed on paper from a regular printer. I'll try to rescan them once I get the real photographs.

My daughter...

For the last few days, my daughter has definitely been herself. Here are just a few of the funny, quirky, and sometimes, downright insulting things she's said and done.

1. She has decided that she absolutely loves this one particular shirt. It's a plain gray shirt with LSU on it in purple. It's not girly, it's not pink, and it's not sparkly, but she loves it. She was at Momma's this weekend, and when she pulled it out of her suitcase, my mom said she hugged it and said "My momma packed my FAVORITE shirt!!!!" She wore it Sunday, Sunday night to bed, to school on Monday, argued when I washed it Monday night, to school Tuesday, changed into it after she went to bed Tuesday night, and then to school on Wednesday. She said she was going to wear it today for pj day because "I sleep in it!!!", but thankfully she wore an Ariel nightgown instead. The best part? Tuesday was school picture day and I forgot. She was wearing the LSU shirt, jeans with a hole in the knee, high pigtails and a sparkly headband. Very her, and very adorable. I'll try to get a picture up soon!

2. We were discussing Halloween on the way to school yesterday, and she told me that she wanted to be the Peanut Butter Jelly Time banana. I think she's already changed her mind, but it would have been awesome.

3. Today she got on to me for not running the past few mornings, and told me I had to so I could be "less fatter." Nice, huh?

4. And even better, she told me earlier in the week that I was "mushy, but that's ok, cause I like you being mushy." I hate to tell her, but I can't be mushy and less fatter at the same time. She's gonna hafta pick!

5. Yesterday she told me a story about chopping up a buffalo. It was both the funniest and most disturbing thing I've ever heard.

6. We were discussing birthday cakes, and I found an AWESOME Alice in Wonderland cake (that I probably couldn't make, but it was amazing) and this really cool Fancy Nancy cake. After showing them to her, she acted unimpressed and picked a totally different cake - a basic Barbie doll cake, only decorated like Ariel. I really think she was reading CakeWrecks.com with me that day, because those cakes were one of the things on there. But I love my daughter, so a doll cake it will be. And I know it will look better than the ones on cakewrecks! ;)

7. And today we were looking through my sister's friend's Disney photos on facebook. We came across one of Captain Jack Sparrow, and I commented that he was cute and asked if she agreed. She told me, "No, he looks kinda piratey. Cause he's a pirate." I guess that's better than looking princessey since he's a pirate.

It's a different thing everyday. I never know what she's going to do next, and that really scares me!