MommaVenture

Summer, summer, summertime
Time to sit back and unwind

Here it is, the groove slightly transformed
Just a bit of a break from the norm
Just a little somethin' to break the monotony
Of all that hardcore dance that has gotten to be
A little bit out of control it's cool to dance
But what about the groove that soothes the romance
Give me a soft subtle mix
And if it ain't broke then don't try to fix it
And think of the summers of the past
Adjust the base and let the alpine blast
Pop in my cd and let me run a rhyme
And put your car on cruise and lay back cause this is summertime.
-- WILL SMITH

While I am somewhat happy to be back to the normal schedule of things, a regular routine, predictability, normalcy, I am also sad to see the summertime go. What a rich summer we experienced; road trip to Michigan, swimming in the ice cold river of North Carolina, flying Daddy to the equator on an airplane to Kenya, where he "helped the people by drinking water", cheered on our very first parade while hooping and hollering extra loudly for the drums, layering the house in flour and sugar many, many times, sleeping in and sipping coffee on a soft cozy couch that has a permanent imprint in it from my morning coffee seated position, running through sprinklers, jumping off the side of the pool, visiting Mr. Mike for swim lessons each day, and staying up late to see the sun set.

All those events made our family stronger, lovelier, tighter, and taught us to relax a bit. There's not much of a better way to relax than a warm sudsy bubble bath. And the things that lead up to a bubble bath are just as much fun:

Artwork: Cari loves coloring with markers. If you ask her if she wants to color, she jumps up and down squealing (no, this child does not talk with out squealing) "Wiff mawkewrs!!" She decided to color Bert while Chad attempted his hand at art.

Well, kind of.....if art is in the mouth.

To which, Cari was NOT impressed. Actually, she was quite disgusted that Chad could ever do such a thing as put crayons in his mouth.

I asked her if she could color Bert. She is learning very well to color in specific areas. Very well. Yes, very, very well. She's at the stage where she's burning holes in the paper trying to color in the same specific area.

But, when I asked her to draw Bert, as the page shows, this is what she did. Completely on her own! Drew his head, then his two eyes, his nose (the pink), and his mouth (the blue). She's getting the hang of it!

Didn't she do a good job?

Chad's picture wasn't too bad either, although I think most of the markings are just flecks of wax that splattered when he dropped the crayons from his mouth to the table. Ah well, in time! The most fun he had with the crayons was leaning over his highchair and dropping them one, by one, by one, by one, to hear the thump on the floor and watch how far it rolled, craning his neck to see around and under his chair. Then he'd raise his hands in the air and scream, like he expected me to run across the room to pick them up and give them back.....to which, I did.

Stinker.....

Another call for a bubble bath is a lunch picnic involving lush creamy avocados on the front lawn. The weather was absolutely too gorgeous to sit inside all day. I think today was possibly the most beautiful day of the year. I can never decide if I like Spring or Fall more - they seem to pass in about 2.4 days here in the South, so I never have time to decide. But, today, confirmed it. I live for Fall. The sun is low, and bright. The sky is a bold, bright blue. The clouds are high. The breeze is cool, yet the sun is warm. The green is beginning to fade, and little brown leaves begin to crunch under your feet. When you walk barefoot out to get the paper early in the morning, your toes throb from the cold concrete, yet the rest of your body enjoys the warm air and cool breeze. Your laughter just cannot stay contained within you. The littlest things cause joy to roll right up inside of you and out of your mouth, so much that you just can't stop. You raise your hands in the air to feel the freshness of life settling in; calming after the storm of summer. So, today, since it felt like the perfect Fall day, even though the middle of next week will feel like the desert again, we celebrated with sammiches and "adocados" in the grass on a nice fluffly blanket. We listened to fire trucks vroom by, car horns beep, doggies yip, and little boys down the street scuff their shoes on the asphalt as they came zooming by on their scooters.

See my teefers that are trying so hard to come in?

There is not much better than baby laughter. I love this sequence of pictures.

Spaghetti dinners are yet another way of expecting a bubble bath. How come the best foods are the messiest foods?

Oh, and I completely forgot, that the most perfect weather day of the year also marks the first day of College Game Day! SCORE!!!!

And, so, we say goodbye to our summertime, and look forward to the Fall to come. We can't wait to spend more time outside without fearing dehydration. To look scarecrows in the eye. To sit on pumpkins not to be sat on. To collect candy from gobs of people you've never met. To eat apple cider loaded with cinnamon. To sip hot cocoa that leaves whipped cream on your nose. To snuggle up in fuzzly little socks and a big heavy blanket on the couch and feel little breaths warm your neck.

However, even in the Fall, we can still have these if we want some. Bubble baths are not only meant for summertime. Just a nice way to end a great day, any time of year!

Be a simple kind of man
Be something you love and understand
Be a simple kind of man
Oh, won't you do this for me son, if you can?
--LYNYRD SKYNYRD

My husband is what I would call a simple man. Jeans and t-shirts. Sneakers. Buzzed hair cut. Beer and coke. Golf and basketball. Peanut butter and Doritos. Meat 'n' taters. So, what kind of cake would you expect for a simple man to want for his bithday? None other than yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Every year. After year, after year, after year. Makes life 'simple'. So, this year, of course, Cari and I baked his birthday cake together. And, of course, she had a blast. Anything with chockit. Heck, anything having to do with baking. But, this year, we put in a little surprise for him.

"Surprise!! Ms. Betty Crocker" Cake

What you need:
1 box yellow cake mix
Canola/vegetable oil
Water
Eggs
1 container of whipped chocolate frosting
6 oz Ghirardelli Chocolate chips
3 oz crushed Heath peices

What to do:

Prepare cake mix as directed on the box, using 2 8-inch round cake pans to create 2 layers to the cake.

To do this, first, put this little guy down for his nap.

Get out your supplies.

Grease two 8- or 9-inch round pans.

Flour them up.

Give them a shimmy shake shake shake.

In a large mixing bowl, dump in the boxed cake mix.

CHEERS!!!

Dump in the oil, water, and eggs, as called for on the box.

Mix it all up. Using an electric mixer makes it a little easier on the muscles, but if you're needing to burn off some calories that you are about to eat, by all means, mix 'er up!

Distribute evenly between the two pans.

What do we do next, Mommy?

Give the cakes some good vibes so they bake evenly in the oven.

Work on self control as you smell the aroma of yellow cake. Mmmm....

Bake as directed on the box. When the cake is done, let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then place the bottom layer on a wire cooling rack. Leave the other in the pan so that it stays warm. Place a good amount of chocolate chips and crushed Heath peices on top of the bottom layer. This is what will bind the two layers together instead of frosting. So much richer, and SURPRISE! What yumminess.

Don't forget to sample some! That's the best part!

Carefully arrange them in a single layer on the cake. You will see some of them start to melt.

Doesn't that look delicious?

Once you've got all your goodies on the cake, then take the top layer out of the pan and place it on top of the bottom layer. Check on it to make sure it is doing what it's supposed to - look yummy, get melty, and smell delicious.

Can you see some of them melting already? Let the cake cool completely on the wire rack before frosting.

Once the cake is cool, transfer to a cake platter. A trick to keep your cake platter clean while you frost: tear off 3 sheets of wax paper and place on top of the platter, leaving just the center of the platter exposed - something for the cake to stick to. Frost your cake, and when done, slide the wax papers out from underneath the cake. Whalaa! Clean plate.

Resist the temptation to eat the frosting until you are done with the cake. Another practice in self-control.

Reward!

Be proud of your creation. Tell it sweet little nothings.

It was at this point that I asked Cari continually to put the chair away because we were all done. When she incessantly refused to listen to me, I looked at her and said, "Cari, you need to learn that when we are done, it's over" to which she promptly, and perfectly, replied, "Mommy, you need to wearn dat when we are done, we EAT IT!" Well said, my dear, well said.

When the little brother wakes up from his nap, taunt him with your chocolate covered face and tell him he cannot have any because he's a baby. But continue to stick your face in his so that he can smell the goodness of gooey chocolate.