Pulling from the archives: Cupcake family tree

I stole these pictures from a post I did in 2009. I got the idea from this cookbook...
...and made a family tree out of cupcakes to celebrate Matt's grandmother's birthday.

I made an easy box mix for the cupcakes, tinted some icing with food coloring for a nice skin color, and used melting chocolate dyed with a little food coloring for the hair. It would have been much better to use mini M&Ms for different eye colors, but since I couldn't find any anywhere, I went with tube icing. The noses are jelly beans, and the mouths are Starbursts. You really just have to play with it all to get it work the way you like. (The cookbook gives MUCH better instructions than I can here. It's got some amazing ideas if you like to play with cupcakes. A great buy.)

I painted a tree on a large piece of white cardboard and placed 'everyone' in their proper places on the family tree. Here it is... Gran and Grandpa's legacy... in cupcake form.



Gran and Grandpa. (I love Gran's glasses.)

Pat and Sarah's family. (Owen is my favorite.)

I got a little carried away with Sarah's hair. Sorry, Sarah.

Gigi and G-Pops.

Jeb eating his cupcake self. Look how little he was.

Our family. Pretty sure I captured Matt perfectly.

This project was time consuming, but so worth it and very fun to watch everyone eat their cupcake selves. I think this would be fun to do for a little girl party and make a different cupcake for each little girl in her likeness. Maybe someday....

Random Friday

1.) My house is a wreck. If you came over, I wouldn't consider opening the door. Because I would lose friends. And respect.

2.) Yesterday when I put Jeb in the car, he said, "I no watch iCarwy." (The girls' iCarly dvd was in the dvd player.) I was thrilled. Yes! He wants a tough, boy movie. I started looking for Thomas or Diego when he said, "Hey Mama. You got Barbie?"

3.) I really want to make this. Doesn't meant that I will.

4.) Still working on book number two. I have put Matt is charge of deciding who to talk to/what to do/where to go in efforts to get number one published. It is brutally hard to get published, just in case you were wondering. One of the agents I really like posted her stats from last year. Out of 10,000 unsolicited queries (people like me who have not been referred) she received in 2010, she took on NONE of them. That's 0 out of 10,000. It's going to be hard. But not impossible.

5.) Last year at this time I was falling out of my size 2 jeans. I was sick and about to find out that life was seriously going to change. (Ahhhh, to go back to those few months of bliss when I was tiny and dying but had no idea. Sigh.) But I was falling out of my size 2s. I still have those size 2s. And that is all I will say about that.

6.) Matt has Fatbooth on his iPhone. I am sure it is politically incorrect and insensitive on so many levels. I apologize in advance. But I haven't been feeling so great this morning, so in an effort to make me smile, he sent me this picture with the caption, "Do I look bloated?" Ummm, "bloated" is not the word I would choose.

7.) We are still working on my new site. It's going to be clean and simple and I am so excited about it. One of my favorite features will be that I will have the ability to comment on a comment left by a reader. I love that and can't wait to get it up and running.

A few of my favorite things....

I love Christmas. Of course, we celebrate Baby Jesus. But also at Christmas.... I get stuff. Really cool stuff. Once-a-year-kind of stuff. I wait for Christmas like a kid. I. Love. Christmas.

I shared one of my favorite things here. (My husband couldn't have done better.) But I have a few more favorites worth sharing... in no certain order.

This is another one from Matt. (I'm telling you... he was on his game.)A CHI Ultra straightening iron. A lifesaver for me and this naturally wavy/frizzy/yuck hair. I had a CHI ultra, but sadly, it died on me last summer. Ever since I have been using a regular CHI. They are great, too, but simply don't heat up enough to give me the look I need. Plus... it's pink. Perfection. By the way, we picked this up at Ulta. They usually have great deals in the store, and if you sign up for their mailing list, they send you even better ones.

Another one of my favorite gifts came from Matt's mom. I have been needing some tall, brown boots, and she surprised me with these on Christmas morning.

I could not love them more. They are called Nicole 'Buster', and you can get them for a decent price over at Amazon. My favorite story about these boots.... Estella Dru and I were in Market Place, and she looked at me and said, "Mama, I just cannot stop starin' at your boots. Those things are rockin' hot, Girl." And they sort of are.

Another gift from Gigi which has been SO great is this little zip bag from Fossil.

I always hated pulling out my diabetes testing things at restaurant tables in the little black medical-like, hospital-ish bag I was using. This bag is the perfect size to hold all my testing stuff, and it's so stinkin' cute. If you have a diabetic friend, this would make the. perfect. gift. Here's a link.

Did you get a "favorite thing" for Christmas?

She's looking to me.

I'll be honest. We are strict parents. We aren't trying to raise "free spirits." (I've read the Bible front-to-back and have yet find that passage--"Thou shall raise thy children to be free spirited, and thou shall discipline rarely while meeting their every desire.") We are trying to raise well-behaved, disciplined children, grounded in faith, and who realize they are part of a big world that does not revolve around their every want and desire. Because it doesn't.

And I make no apologies.

That said, my kids are loved. Crazy loved. And they know it. Some days, yeah, I wish I could give them their way more or give in to their selfish little wills because I love them and want to make them so happy. But it's because I love them so much that I rarely give in. I realize to some that seems over-the- top, but ultimately, I'm raising my children for the glory of One. If I don't obey what I know in my heart to be the calling He has for me and for the lives of my children, I will have failed myself and the three most precious gifts He has ever given me.

But some days, being the parent gets frustrating. Saying "no", correcting behaviors constantly.... It's disheartening... and just plain hard. There are times I want to lock myself in the closet and just cry. Some days I think, "Grandma would know what to say... or do." But Grandma isn't here. It's me. It's my responsibility to be the best mother I can be. Still, sometimes being a Mommy is a lonely place.

Then yesterday, after a trying day with the Slaughter Sisters, I opened up my jewelry box and found a note from Estella Dru. It read simply, "I love you, Mommy." And this was the picture attached.

I realize it probably was not intended, but the emotion in her little eyes in this picture brought me to tears. It's as if she is looking to me with all the admiration in the world. Me. The one who tells her to stay in her seat, pick up her room five times a day, stop doing this, stop doing that, spanks her bootie when she needs it, assures her that while her friends may be "doing" it, make no mistake, she will not. Me. She's looking to me.

I find that miraculous.

I'll be the first to admit, I mess up as a parent all the time. ALL the time. But I believe that if we're more committed to raising our kids according to what the Lord calls us to and not this messed-up, self-loving world, our rewards will be immeasurable. Yesterday, for me, it was a note from my daughter. And it was priceless.

Snow Day=Snow Outing=Train Wreck

Yay! SNOW DAY!!

I prayed it here. I am quite certain. All me. My prayers. You're welcome.

The excitement in my house this morning was fever pitch. Every Slaughter kid was chomping at the bit to go outside. I knew it was a bad idea. I knew the outing would maybe last two, possibly three minutes. They are their mother's children. We don't do cold.

But Daddy came to their rescue, even with my warnings that, "This will not end well."

We bundled them up, a process that took approximately 35 minutes, opened the door, and out they went. Three steps later, two of them lay crying flat on their backs, having fallen on the ice. They recovered without much drama and ran into the yard.

Estella Dru got the brilliant idea to slide down the slide that was covered in snow and a little ice. I knew it wasn't wise, but before I could protest, she was being catapulted into the middle of the yard. It sort of reminded me of an old cartoon. Unbelievable, but happening before my very eyes. Though she was in tears, apparently it looked like so much fun that Jeb wanted to try. I barely caught him before he plunged to his death off an icy rung of the ladder leading up to the slide.

At this point, I called for Matt and told him this was his disaster. I was going in. I couldn't watch.

Less than a minute later, Jeb had a melt down. (No pun intended.) He was screaming and shaking and, for all intents and purposes, dying of pain. When I ran in to see what happened, bracing myself to see blood or a broken bone, Matt informed me he had taken off his gloves and touched the snow. Yes, I'm serious. Snow-touching took him down. Jeb was holding his little red hand out to me, screaming, "Mama, help! Pwease!"

Train. Wreck.

Matt rushes (yes, rushes) him into the tub to get warm when Estella Dru comes to the door crying. She was cold, too, and still reeling from her slide ordeal. I sent her to the tub. Belle wasn't far behind. 35 minutes of getting ready for maybe four minutes of unadulterated outside fun.

I let Matt deal with the snow drama, and went to gather up some snow of my own for snow ice cream. I'm sure there is some crazy delicious, sophisticated way to make snow ice cream, but around here we do it the was Grandma did it. Milk, sugar, and vanilla. No measuring. Just pouring until it looks right. And that's how I'll always do it.


Even with all the craziness, I love having them home with me for a 'surprise' snow day. Oh, and by the way, Jeb has recovered nicely and learned his lesson about the snow. When I handed him his snow ice cream, he told me, "I use spoon, Mama. Don't touch dat snow. It hurt."

Brilliant, Son. Yeah, use the spoon.

A "Snowed In" Snack

We aren't really "snowed in" today. (Dang it.) But I had planned on making these this morning to take to some sweet people who have been wonderful to us lately. And then I thought... what a great "snowed in" snack.

Someone very precious to me used to make these, and I'm so glad I thought of them after all these years. Here's what you do....

Place around a cup and a 1/2 of creamy peanut butter into a plastic baggie, squish it down to one corner, and cut a hole in that corner.

Fill the inside of Bugles chips with the peanut butter from the bag. (Some of the chips are more "open" than others. Don't force it. Just use the "open" ones and save the rest to snack on later.

I didn't count how many I made. I just filled until I got tired of filling. You can do the same.

Next, crush about a cup of pecans. And I mean crush. You want them almost powdery. Set aside. You'll need them in a minute.

Now you need to get some melting chocolate. I already had some chocolate chips, so I added the bag of chips, plus around a tablespoon of shortening to the bowl and used a double boiler system to melt. (The shortening just makes it more smoother and manageable. It's not a necessity.) You can use any sort of melting chocolate you have on hand.

Once your chocolate is melted, dip only the end of the chip into the chocolate, sealing off the peanut butter end. Before the chocolate begins to set up, sprinkle on your pecans.

Let them set up. (I put mine in the garage for about thirty minutes, and that's all it took. It's cold out there!) And that's it. Serve away.

WARNING: We made these at Christmas, and they went fast. Lightening fast. They may be slightly addictive, so if you're on a New Year's Diet, prepare yourself to resist.

And then watch yourself eat the whole batch.

Mortifying Mommy Moment Memory

My sweet Estella Dru slammed her little finger in a door at the end of school yesterday. And not the front of the door, but the back... like by the hinges. It doesn't look nearly as bad as it sounds, and nothing was broken... except for her sweet little heart.

She walked in the door with the biggest tears in her eyes and asked me to hold her. She wasn't really complaining, but she wouldn't let me let her go for the longest time. Is there anything worse than when your kids are hurting?

The whole incident reminded me of my ALL-TIME-WORST Mommy moment. I'm going to share it, but I warn you... you will never think of me the same. You may even be tempted to call DHS. But let me assure you, the guilt and shame I've carried all these years has been punishment enough.

Let the confessional begin...

When Belle was two, we were at Matt's mom's (Gigi's) house. When it was time to leave, Belle decided she wanted to stay and tried to escape into Gigi's room. I told her we had to go and that she needed to come to Mommy. Being the obedient child she was, she burst into tears and ran into Gigi's room again. I brought her out, sat her down, kicking and screaming, and shut the door to the room.

At that moment, the child let out a blood curdling scream. I assumed that is was because I shut the door, and so I popped her little bottom, made her look at me, and said, "You do not pitch fits, Belle."

And that's right about the time that I noticed three of her little fingers were caught in the back of the COMPLETELY CLOSED door. If you're not following me, let me clarify. I. Spanked. My. Child. While. Her. Fingers. Were. Being. Crushed. Inside. A. Closed. Door.

Thank God they didn't break. I honestly don't know if I could have forgiven myself. She recovered quickly, but I didn't. It was definitely one of my darkest mommy days.

But maybe my biggest mistake was confessing the whole thing to Belle not so long ago. That child forgets nothing. So yesterday when I was holding E Dru, Belle came in, looked at her sister's finger, and said, "Hey, Mama. Remember when...."

"Yes, Belle!"