The Cake Ordeal, or Trial By Frosting

Birthdays for one small Two

and two big Sevens

all in one whippy whirlwind of a week. 

Whew! 

With such a mouthful of birthdays,

we partied nice and mellow...

except for... the big girl cakes...

 

Uh.

A few words to the wise: 

Betty Crocker

invented cake mix for a reason.

The reason?

She had twins plus two toddlers

and could not juggle kids and kitchen.

My attempt turned out two overly dense 

six-layer rainbow pink berry chocolate cakes

with floppy, sloppy frosting... 

sound yummy?

hmmmm.

I have learned from my mistakes. 

From now on, I will stick to wordy, artsy things

and leave baking to the Big Whisks 

and their foodie blogs.

Goodbye, high rise glorious 

skittle skat roarious.

It's cupcakes from now on.

Five days later, Birdy's birthday began

with a houseful of pink balloons.

Heaven!  

 

What else does a newly two need?

 

A frilly dress-up,

a home-sewn crown

fuzzy old chenille in a soft new quilt,

giggles

and some really easy cupcakes from a stress-free mama

and a

"blow-the-candles-out!"

Yummy Cake Books:

The High Rise Glorious Skittle Skat Roarious
High Pie Angel Food Cake - Nancy Willard, Richard Jesse Watson
The Woman Who Flummoxed the Fairies - Heather Forest, Susan Gaber
Round is a Mooncake - Roseanne Thong, Grace Lin 
Clever Jack Takes the Cake - Candace Fleming, G. Brian Karas
Mud is Cake - Pam Munoz Ryan
Thunder Cake - Patricia Polacco
Moon Cake - Frank Asch
Babycakes - Karma Wilson, Sam Williams
The Fairy Tale Cake - Mark Sperring, Jonathan Langley

What are your favorite yummy books?

How Does Your Garden.... Grow?

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to

remain an artist once we grow up.”

- Picasso

Every kid can climb to the clouds, fly with fish, 

rule the world and tame dragons.

So when does that invincibility cape wear off? 

 

I think it turns tail somewhere between 

"pay the bills"and "eat your dinner," 

"thinner thighs" and that persistent inner critic that yelps 

to rise above the roost. 

 How can we return to that brave, boundless sky of imagination? 

It helps to give reality a shush 

from time to time, 

and let the muse sing. 

How do you dream when life is crowded with reality?

Over here, we play.

Not much weeding in our summer "garden." 
Just some good old crayon dirt.
Grass paint.

Water.

Sky. 

A big black thing.

Sugar Snack had so much fun he painted holes through his paper.

We talked about painting what we see with our eyes  -
shapes, colors, lines -
and then painting what we feel...
  
"Boingy"

"Happy"

 "Flying"

To draw you must close your eyes and sing 

- Pablo Picasso 

 
Our "garden" is inspired by this clever find:

The Imaginary Garden by Andrew Larson,
illustrated by Irene Luxbacher.



More Expressive Picture Books We Love:

Happy - Mies Van Hoot
Picasso and the Girl With a Ponytail - Laurence Anholt
My Many Colored Days - Dr. Seuss, ill. by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
Paris in the Spring with Picasso - Joan Yolleck, ill. by Marjorie Priceman
 

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret;

it is only with the heart that one can see rightly,

what is essential is invisible to the eye. 

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery