Mom, you don't need to use an offset spatula, a butter knife will do...

Obviously, blogging has taken a backseat lately to, oh, you know maintaining a FULL TIME growing business and family, but, I seriously worry that, little moments like the ones below and snapshots of time periods in our life will fade to forgotten memories if not captured in writing. Without further ado, I'm going to really really try to write more down... "try" is the operative word in that last sentence (see how I cleverly bolded and italicized it for emphasis?!), so I'll either see you later this week.. or months..or years... we'll see!

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We're on the cusp of Shane's third birthday and it's just a regular old Tuesday night in the Delanty household, save for the major storms rolling through this evening that has the kids joining us for an extended period of time this evening. So, in light of their later bedtime, I decided to let them help me do a little internet research - actually, to let them do some "pinterest-ing" with me, to which that almost three year old asked me, "mommy, where are the internets - where do they come from?" to which I could only answer.. ."uhh... well, I'm not sure.. probably Al Gore... " which seemed to satisfy him enough.

We decide to start by looking for some example birthday cake ideas - I have priorities people. So, from the other room, Bridget hears Shaney and I discussing baseball birthday cakes and comes sprinting in (apparently she has priorities, too) and then the following innocent enough conversation just made me realize how hilarious this time in my life is:

b: What are you making on the computer?
me: We're looking at ideas for Shaney's birthday cakes.
b: What kind of a cake?
m: I don't know, maybe a baseball field or baseball shaped cupcakes.
b: Well, well (said with that four year old - I'm so excited I can't quite get the words out as fast as my brain wants to say them) then you need to (and I swear, this is pretty much verbatem) consult (she seriously used that word) Liv (she pronounces it "leaf") Hansen in the Betty Crocker Kitchens at howdini.com.
m: What? (laughing because she recited it EXACTLY like that - you could tell it was ingrained in her little brain that way...)
b: (frustrated at my lack of knowledge, sighs and says it much louder in hopes that then I will know what she means...) LEAF Hansen from the Betty Crocker Kitchens

I realize she is referring to the you tube videos she watches on cake making on my iphone/and or ipad and is basically a walking 4 year old commercial for videos like this (one of her favs - "leaf" shows up around 30 seconds in) and this (flip flops - her "second favorite" Liv arrives sporting a short pixie cut around 20 secs this time).

While I kind of felt like a bad parent for letting her watch all these you tube videos (usually right at bed time - can you say sleep issues in her adult future) they certainly came in handy this past easter weekend as she advised me on "dome cuts" and "crumb coats" as we worked on our easter baking projects.


so, there you have it, a little snap shot into a tuesday night in the delant household.

who needs lubely's when you have your own personal mini betty crocker?

Cutest little models - even if they did ruin two of the products

More to come.. I'm saving the real gems for my site.. stay tuned!

Funny Stuff, pardon the sacreligiousness of it all though.

Subject: If Facebook Existed Years Ago…

Three months almost? Is that right?

Anywho, not that anyone is out there reading this anymore, but I wanted to preserve this video, cause 1, I love Jimmy Fallon and mark my words, one day he will be one of the funniest late night shows on tv and 2) this is pretty freaking hilarious.

So hilarious in fact, I had to make this:

Jo Frost, I'm banking on you.

Anytime I feel I've lost control of something I have an overwhelming need to reel that control back in...shocking isn't it? So after my last blog post i thought I'd show my two remaining readers what arrived today.

I'm putting my money on supernanny how about you?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

As much as I hate to admit it, he's right

Alternate title: My parents and brother seriously still love me? How is that possible?

Hello friends, no for reals, it's me. Here I am! Hello! Apparently starting a new business endeavor completely on your own and branching off from every form of income as you previously knew it, makes for a pretty busy lifestyle. So, I'm not going to try and make up for time lost and write about all the past three months, instead I'm just going to drop a big, heaping, steaming pile of complaints and poor-me whining on y'all. So, without further ado, here we go...

I wasn't exactly the "easiest" of all children. I'm pretty sure my parents will verify this. I have memories of points in my life, in what I know was very young childhood, where I would purposefully see how far I could push my parents. I needed control, I needed to be in charge and when I couldn't be or didn't get my way, I would TRY and insight anger in them even, try to get them to break. And, when they were completely at their wits end? Oh yeah, that's when I'd push even harder.

As I result, I logged many hours in a particularly awful corner of our living room, in a perfectly awful red velvet chair known only as the dreaded "quiet chair" (basically the 1980's version of time-out). I'm pretty sure if there was a bar graph of time spent in the quiet chair, Erin vs. Mark, my brother's would look like a tiny little adobe home, that barely stuck out of the ground, but that sat next to a towering skyscraper - the largest in the world. In fact, go ahead and just look at what I found when I googled this phrase: quiet chair hours logged erin vs. mark jones. Once in that chair, I would go into silent destruction mode - I would bite, punch and pick at the threads on the chair as if to punish it for being so red and velvet and AWFUL. This sounds pretty harsh, but I'm ashamed to say it's all true. I. Was. Difficult.

Well, guess what friends? Pay back is a bitch. I thought the "terrible" two's were rough. Hahahah what did I know, it's all relative, right? I spit on you and your mild tantrums, terrible twos. YOU WERE NOTHING then and you are nothing now.

The tantrums of the first part of 2010 have been unlike anything I have ever witnessed as a parent, or actually, just as a living, breathing, human being. The only thing they remind me of is... well, myself. Oh, and also a few choice scenes from a particularly well-known movie about being possessed, save for head spinning, at least - knock on wood- so far. Oh my god, the appreciation I have for my parents is beyond words. This is really hard. To watch your sweet, loving, caring little babygirl turn to serious exorcist-type behavior is just heartbreaking. And the cause? You name it - bedtime, nap time, morning time, Shane looked at her funny, she wants her Dora shoes, she doesn't want her Dora shoes, she's breathing.

To be fair, she is not like this daily, but it does happen and honestly it happens more often then I'd care to admit. I hate to be angry with her and I hate to feel any kind of bad feelings toward her, but in those moments, the moments where she's kicking me in the stomach from her bed or refusing to say sorry to Shane while screaming the shrillest most awful screams at the top of her lungs as he stands close by with the most confused little boy look, I have to honestly say, I don't like her much. Don't get me wrong, I love the hell out of that little girl, but those times, oh those times, those times are hard. Sidebar: Li'l g, I, in all seriousness, apologize to you, too. I'm pretty sure you probably wore those same confused little brother - what the hell is wrong with my sister, she's scaring the crap out of me - looks a time or two (or forty or fifty) and honestly, 30 years later, that breaks my heart, too.

I feel like we try every technique in our arsenals and usually all of them at once during one "episode" and while I keep telling myself this is a phase and it will get better, I honestly am afraid, very afraid. Because, well, I know myself. And "myself" took a LONG TIME to stop resisting authority or restrictions, and well, umm, actually maybe I'm still working on that. And, honestly, that scares me, because she reminds me so much of myself. Yikes.

In fact, most of the time, when Tim and I are discussing what to do, or buying the latest book on "scream-free parenting" (which, btw, I do not endorse as I have yet to read this book - finding it somewhat unrealistic for me, but I'm still going to try) he likes to remind me of the unfairness of it all. He was not that bad of a child, he did not destroy furniture out of anger or even kick or hit his parents or siblings, well, except for that one thumb biting incident and I can't even remember if he was the "biter" or "instigator" in that one....so, why is he subject to this cruel karma? Fair enough, Delant, fair enough.

So, there you have it - the big pile of parent (poor-me-and-my-daughter's-tantrums) whining. Now, I would be lying if I didn't admit there's a small part of me that admires this in her. I can't help it. She is determined, driven, full of emotion and opinionated. And, even through these awful fits and scream-a-thons, she is still one of the most loving, caring little people I've ever had the privilege of knowing. Who knows, may be one day in the future she'll have trouble keeping up with her blog.. or whatever they are by then... because she is too busy taking on her own business (or even the world) so SHE can be the one in charge.

PS - If any of you have any words of wisdom/advice/so been there/hang in there sister/ about this which does not involve the following duh information:

• Don't let them get to hungry/too sleepy
• Keep a consistent bedtime routine
• Stay calm, keep your voice low

I'd love to hear it! :)

Valentine's Day fun 2010

Loving the sprinkles and chocolate -
she turned her nose up at the cream cheese frosting.. what?!?!

He, however, did not. Got milk?

I couldn't get this kid in from the snow.

Happy Valentine's Day!!