Mommy Made Baby Elmo Cupcakes

Mickey Mouse and Baby Elmo Came to the Party

When It Rains It Pours

When it rains it pours parties. Today is Sunday and today we are heading out to our third party for this weekend. Today we are celebrating Baby Jack's first birthday at our daughter's home. But let me post some photos of the bridal shower I attended Saturday in a former old Victorian home in Fairfax, Virginia. This place is called the Sweet Life Cafe and the bridal shower was for Krista, the daughter of very good friends of ours, who will be tying the knot this September. In the eighth photo down is a girl standing and directing us in playing a bridal shower game which by the way yours truly won! Anyway this girl is an army captain and she has just returned from serving a year in Iraq. And Krista planned her wedding date so that her good friend would be home from Iraq and able to be in the wedding party. When I spoke to this girl she said that while she was in Iraq she experienced 31 days of temps above 130 degrees! Wow! In the fourth photo down sitting at Krista's table is my very, very good friend Joyce who will be the mother of the bride come September. And next to Joyce is Joyce's sister Franny. The bridal shower was lovely as is the bride-to-be. And it was great fun to re-connect with some old neighbors of Joyce. So now we have a fall wedding to look forward to attending in Warrenton, VA at an antibellum mansion. Friends, click on each photo for more detail in each picture. There you go.

Our Lady of Sorrows Cake

Tonight I have the honor of hosting our neighborhood book club. I've decided to do a three course Italian sit down dinner for the eleven ladies coming plus yours truly: anti pasta, pasta (lasagna and salad and green beans) and dessert. Dessert will be Our Lady of (Drown Your) Sorrows Cake With Heavenly Frosting.
Yield: Enough For An Army. This cake recipe along with a few other recipes I'm planning to duplicate tonight are from the book up for discussion tonight: Rococo, by Adriana Trigiani, who is an author who grew up in southern Virginia but who now resides in New York City.The setting for this book is the New Jersey borough of Our Lady of Fatima on the Jersey shore. The narrator of the novel is the Duke of Decor on the Jersey Shore who makes this cake to drown his sorrows because of something Father Porporina has done to him at Our Lady of Fatima Church. So that's why I have the Blessed Virgin on my cake.

But just listen to what is in this cake. There are 3 Milky Way bars, 3 Three Musketeers Bars, 3 Snickers bars plus buttermilk, butter and shortening. I had to break my vow to not use Crisco to make this cake. And the frosting had a bag of marshmallow, a cup of pecans, 2 cups of shredded coconut and a pound of sugar plus butter and heavy cream. Maybe I should call the local fire and rescue department to be on alert in case any of us go into cardiac arrest from this high octane cholesterol cake.

Do You Remember Dick, Jane and Sally?

Did you learn to read from the a little Scott Foresman primer that had three main characters who were all white and all middle class and all in town dwellers? I did in first grade. And I thought they were so cute and so adorable and so lucky to live in town instead of on a dairy farm. And my favorite one was Baby Sally! Here are some lines that I still remember:

See Dick.

See Jane.

See Sally and Jane play.

See Jane look.

See Dick run and run and run.

Well, here's today's reading lesson.

See Joann.

See Joann garden.

See Jack mow.

See Joann look.

See Joann go.

Now see Jack run and run and run.

Comprehension question for this lesson. Why is Jack running? Because Jack has a little house rule. Joann, if you plant your flowers to close to the edge of the flowerbeds they will get mowed down when I mow and because Joann has a hard time following this rule when she has so little space and so many flowers to grow in a row. So Jack is mowing and Joann is going and if some flowers get clipped today, Jack will also be running and running away from Joann.

Reading lesson is now over. You can go outside kids and look at the Madonna lilies that grow up to six feet tall. Oh, and do lean in and take a wiff of that bottom lily blossom. That aroma is intense like very strong cheap perfume. Now don't get too close or you'll come away looking like a bee with a leg full of pollen.

Incredulous News

Baby Jack had been babbling dadadada and mamamama for quite some time but he hadn't really communicated with a real first word that we could recognize till Monday's Blast From the Past event. (See yesterday's post).

While Jenn went to call Terry Monday morning to see how the workers were doing laying the cherry hardwood floors Jack and I took little Jack to our patio because he loves the outdoors and it was still cool at that hour. (Later in the day we reached 92 degrees.) Jack was holding him at the patio table when he spied our little cat statue. He pointed at it and said plain as day: "Cat!" He smiled and said it again. When we relayed this breaking baby news to our daughter Jenn she simply couldn't believe it. You mean this baby that has lived for nine months in and almost 12 months out, chooses cat as his first word. Unbelievable. And Terry was incredulous too.
But later in the day Baby Jack spotted another little cat statue under a table in our dining room and said the word cat again. Jenn and Terry are still incredulous. They can't believe that Jack might like their house cat, Mr. Merlin Cat, better than them. We tried to explain that that first word can be absolutely anything besides Mom or Dad. So here's a question for you. Did someone write down your first word? If so, what was it? Or if you are a parent, can you remember that first word that your child spoke? If so, what was it?

A Blast From The Past

It was a quiet summer day. No, wrong lead in sentence. It was a hot and loud summer day with many bangs. Our daughter and son-in -law had new

hardwood floors installed on the main floor of their home yesterday so Jenn and Baby Jack spent from 8:30 to 4:30 at our house which meant that there was more activity than normal at the retirement home. Then the doorbell rang and we learned that our next door neighbor needed to run an errend and could we watch her daughter and her daughter's playmate. So into the house marched two of the cutest little kids who will be in first grade this year. Well, do we still have toys for kids that age? No indeed. So we turned Baby Jack into a toy. Something like Baby Elmo and Sponge Bob Squarepants rolled into one. Or rather like Baby Elmo and Sponge Bob Wet Diaper rolled into one. That kept them amused for about five minutes. Then we used Baby Jack's shapes ball to do a lesson on do you know your shapes? The pentagon and the hexagon threw them for a loop though they both had heard of that big military building right outside D.C. called The Pentagon. Another ten minutes elapsed. Then I noticed the little tuffets that Jack made me for our wing chairs by the fireplace so I got the bright idea to have them act out Little Miss Muffet Sat On A Tuffet. That was pretty cute. Little Miss Muffet ate her curds and whey and then along came Spiderman to chase her away. This inspired the very bright and talkative little boy to give us a demonstration of all his Tai Kwando moves. Well this kid knows his stuff and we got quite a demonstration. I'm just glad he didn't put his little foot through our big screen TV. At that point someone said that they hadn't had breakfast or lunch or dinner today. Someone else said that they couldn't have had supper because it was still morning. So we found the peanut butter and jelly and orange juice to quench their appetites. The PBandJ was a winner. The orange juice was not because it had pulp. At that point they discovered our swing in the backyard and wanted to go swing in it. Just then the doorbell rang once more and we were literally saved by the bell because in walked our neighbor to pick them up just when we were getting into the swing of things so to speak!

Final thought: Did I have and raise two little babies? And did I teach first grade for eight years? Well, that must have been in a previous life because I sure don't remember all the details of what I once did. So the day was literally a blast from the past.

But little did we know that our exciting day was not finished yet. For once more the doorbell rang and we discovered a young seventeen year old man on our doorstep to remind us of past teenage encounters. We learned that he wanted to join the navy and become a pilot and he could do all these things if we could help him earn enough points in his youth program by buying some books. What? And what again? Well, it was too hot outside for an explanation on our doorstep so we invited him to step in and explain this at the kitchen table which he did. Kitchen tables were meant for talks with teenagers. You can look at the table when you don't want to look at each other. So after some looking and listening we bought some books to help him out and to give us a little tax write off for next year. Again Baby Jack was the ice breaker by just being the happy baby that he usually is. But this time we skipped the shapes and nursery rhymes and all the rest although I bet this young man would have enjoyed a Tai Kwando demonstration while having a PBandJ.

Score Another For The Deer

It was very still last night. No wind. None the less our heavy concrete flowerpot on the concrete pedestal got completely turned over last night. We suspect the deer came back from the golf course looking for the one hosta bloom that they had missed before. There may be a deer hoofing tonight on the gold course with a sprained ankle. Bambi, that 's what you get for going where you are not wanted. Now in the meantime we have moved the base of the pedestal to a new location. Right next to a thorny rose bush. Take that you deer. The concrete pot on top has been moved to our patio wall. See what I mean by the botanical play never being dull. (See other postings on botanical play under the heading Gardening.) Sometimes right in the middle of the play you have to do some major scene adjustment while the actors are performing. So this shot is history.

Some Rain Must Fall

Virginia is overcast and rainy this weekend so it is a good time for indoor projects like washing some windows. The rain and overcast skies actually feel very good for a change. We got an email from Kuwait from Jeanine's beau who has now left Iraq and who hopes to be home in just two short? weeks. Bryan says that it is very hot there. I read the other day that it can get up to 140 degrees in that desert starting in early July. I just can't imagine what it would be like to live in that kind of summer heat. I thought Phoenix, Arizona at 116 degrees in the summer of 1989 was bad enough. And our Baby Jack pictured here moving along with his standup walker has been listening to lots of noise at his house. Part II of the kitchen renovation was on Thursday when the new granite counters were installed. Part III will be this Monday when the new wood floors get installed. Jack plans to visit Grandpa Jack to escape the noise.

The Nation's Birthday Celebration 2008

Put a candle on the cake and sing Happy Birthday. If you are a history buff and want to be accurate, put 232 candles on the cake because we are now 232 years old.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday, dear America.

Happy birthday to you!

Then make a wish for our nation and blow out the candle/candles.

Some Fourth of July Trivia For You.

In 1771 Bristol, Rhode Island celebrated the first birthday with a 13-gun salute both in the morning and in the evening.

In 1778 George Washington celebrated the second birthday with a double order of rum for his troops fighting the Revolutionary War.

In 1826 both Thomas Jefferson of Virginia and John Adams of Massachusetts died on July 4.

In 1831 former President James Monroe of Virginia died on July 4.

In 1863 the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was coping with the task of burying over 7000 soldiers and caring for 30,000 wounded soldiers from the three day Battle of Gettysburg on July 4. The battle had ended on July 3, 1863.

In 1946 Ron Kovic, disabled Vietnam vet was born on July 4. Tom Cruise played him in the movie, Born on the Fourth of July.

In 1959 Alaska became a state and the 49 star flag was unfurled on the Fourth of July.

In 1960 Hawaii became a state and the 50 star flag was unfurled on the Fourth of July.

In 1976 the United States celebrated its bicentennial.

What's Happening Here?

Jack and I were going to the Gateway Shopping Center to get a new gas tank for our grill and to have a cup of coffee at Starbucks when we ran into blocked off streets, crowded parking lots and people rushing with kids and babies in tow. Did Obama return to Prince William County? No. It was someone even more exciting to all these folks. It was Flumpa the Amphibian. I think he was a big green frog and he may be coming to a place near you because his frogmobile says he does nationwide tours. At any rate he drew quite a crowd of babies, kids and young moms on a warm July morning at Atlas Walk. Just eight years ago this very spot near the Southern Railway tracks along route #29 was a depressing abandoned iron works business named Atlas Works. Atlas Works was one of the suppliers for the iron beams that were installed in the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York City. Every American remembers seeing these twisted iron beams lying at ground zero. Well, some of those iron beams came from this very spot in Gainesville, Virginia. And today some of those twisted iron beams that were hauled away from ground zero were reused in the making of a new Navy battleship that was launched this year---the U.S.S. New York. And our decrepit and abandoned iron works has been reborn as an upscale shopping mall with a small town main street appeal and it sports the name Atlas Walk.

Just Me and My Shadow

Just me and my shadow out taking pictures of things now in bloom in the gardens. Here in the herb garden it is every man (herb) for himself to grab the most space. The lemon balm is fighting the purple sage and the parsley is going into the seed business. So...........just me and my shadow outside enjoying this summer morning. If you are too young to recognize the phrase just me and my shadow as a line from an old classic Billy Rose tune, go to this website and listen to the song: http://www.peteyandpetunia.com/MyShadow/MyShadow.htm

The Smithsonian Castle

The Smithsonian Castle was the very first Smithsonian building on the National Mall in Washington D.C. It is the building to use as your compass to keep from getting lost on the mall since with its red exterior and nine towers it is very unique. This building was built and completed before the Cival War began thanks to the generosity of James Smithson, an English scientist. James Smithson loved America even though he never visited here.

Buildings Hiding Underground

This tranquil setting of lawns, a fountain and saucer magnolia trees is actually the roof top of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art which was built underground at the mall. Likewise for the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art which was built underground. I need to add to this post that I read on a sign that this African "roof garden" was laid out in Muslim design since it is above the African Museum and the Moors of North Africa practiced the Muslim faith which believes in the four rivers. Muslim gardens are shaded areas laid out in four quadrants each with a water channel that flows into the central fountain. The four rivers are water, wine, milk and honey. This garden was laid out in this fashion. The Asian garden above the Asian Museum was laid out in Asian fashion but I don't have a photo of it.

Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2008

This couple was one of the few adults willing to try some Texas swing dancing on the dance floor in the Texas Dance Hall tent. The lady who had to be in her middle seventies danced with all the willing old guys. Her t-shirt said Oklahoma but the Texas band let her dance. In fact, they dedicated a number to her.

This black folk group was from Austin, Texas and was called Le Amis Creole and as the name implies they sang in French songs that you would more expect to hear in Louisiana than Texas. But I guess music travels and knows no borders. The gentleman in the middle with the little squeezebox could really sing and hit the high notes.

Click on pics to get a better view of the people.