Some Birthdays, Some Ramblings and a Confession

So here we go again, getting behind during birthday season...it simply cannot happen! The blog will simply not recover if I let it go at this point. And I'm not willing or ready to let over four years of family history and journaling go out the window. So, here's the bare bones of it.



Charlie turned seven over one month ago. This child is amazing. He's fully immersed himself in the second grade. He loves math and loves to read. He is kind, he is curious, and sometimes just a little bit silly. You cannot take a bad picture of this kid. He's usually quiet and tends to blend into our family sometimes so much that we have to check, "Charlie, are you here? Did you make it into the car?" Other times he is outspoken and has strong opinions. One evening he was in the car with Joe, and, unsolicited, Charlie began a conversation with his father about his preferences for Beattles songs.

He launches into his critique:

Charlie: "You know what song of the Beattles I don't really like?"

Dad: "Which one?"

Charlie: "All You Need Is Love"

Dad: "Oh yeah, how come?"

Charlie: "Well, it's kind of boring...it doesn't really have very many words, and then all the words are the same, just over and over and over"

Dad: "Well, yeah, I guess that's true...is there a song that you like more?"

Charlie: "Yeah, Helter Skelter...there are lots of different words, and Ringo is so funny at the end when he yells about the blisters on his fingers."

Hmmm...I had to go to itunes to test his critque, but, he's kind of right. Too bad, "All You Need Is Love" has long time been one of my favorites...now it will always be tainted by this seven year olds complaints about it.

So, he had a lovely birthday. For obvious reasons, we're trying to be really conservative with gifts this year for birthdays. But at the last minute, I donated one of my favorite jackets to the birthday cause and turned it into a replica of Luke's jacket in the Return of the Jedi when he gets his medal. John pitched in and made a replica of the medal. By far the best gift of the day.....and I'm only a little bit sad about not being able to wear my jacket anymore.




Charlie and I circled back around again and decided on CPK for our shared birthday dinner. Then we ended up in the back room of Coldstone with an ice cream cake and candles.





I left the following day for five lovely days in Oregon. I celebrated my 35th birthday by lying around all day, reading a book, and then walking with my mom to the Dairy Queen for a birthday Blizzard. You'd think I'd be such an ice cream snob by now, but there is just something about an M&M Blizzard that can't be beat. It was the best.

And now, I'm back and trying to settle into a life that has suddenly become ours. Getting the kids off to school each day, opening the Cupcake Shoppe, helping with homework and piano, making dinners, running kids around to Scouts and Activity Days, packing lunches, dealing with drama and arguments, and basically just trying to keep up.

And you know what? It's tough. A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of listening to President Uchtdorf talk at the General Relief Society Meeting. His talks are always right on the mark...and he really seems to "get" the LDS woman, at least from my perspective. His first point was about how women compare themselves to other women, and how we're always down on ourselves because we can never keep up. I admit, there's a certain aspect of that idea which rings true for me....but the more I thought about it, the more I realized the truth of it for me. I'm not comparing myself to other women so much as I'm comparing myself to the myself of five years ago. I try to stay positive about my health, but there are days that I really just don't get it. How am I supposed to keep up with the life I've created for myself when my body simply can't keep up?

President Uchtdorf went on to say this,

"Everyone has strengths and weaknesses.

It’s wonderful that you have strengths.

And it is part of your mortal experience that you do have weaknesses.

God wants to help us to eventually turn all of our weaknesses into strengths, but He knows that this is a long-term goal. He wants us to become perfect, and if we stay on the path of discipleship, one day we will. It’s OK that you’re not quite there yet. Keep working on it, but stop punishing yourself.

Dear sisters, many of you are endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others. Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself.

In the meantime, be thankful for all the small successes in your home, your family relationships, your education and livelihood, your Church participation and personal improvement. Like the forget-me-nots, these successes may seem tiny to you and they may go unnoticed by others, but God notices them and they are not small to Him. If you consider success to be only the most perfect rose or dazzling orchid, you may miss some of life’s sweetest experiences."

So this is what I'm trying to do....to celebrate the small successes. Maybe it doesn't matter so much that I can't physically do all the things I used to be able to do. Maybe it's okay that much of my time with my children is spent sitting at the table doing homework, or lying on my bed on a Sunday afternoon watching a movie with all the kids. (We really had fun watching Home Alone a few weeks ago)My abilities as a mother have certainly CHANGED in the last few years, but I'm trying hard to remember that just because I'm a DIFFERENT kind of mother now, I'm not any the worse for it, and hopefully neither are my children. I'm looking for the ways to turn this weakness into a strength. And here's one thing I'm starting with...I'm going to take a break from all my craft/sewing/home improvement blogs. I'm going to erase them from my favorites. I'm no longer going to look at all the things that other mothers are able to do, and instead, I'm going to spend time focusing on the things that I CAN DO as a mother.

I'm going to try to be a little more patient with myself.

Anybody want to join me? What will you do to be more patient with yourself?

And now, onto the day ahead. I'm looking forward to finding the bits of success I can today...but I can tell you one thing, it will not include a sewing machine, paint brush or a glue gun!

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Charlie's birthday is in two days, so I decided to finally actually POST this post that I wrote last week and for some reason never posted. If I start off "Birthday Season" already behind on the blog, it may be something I(or actually just the blog)will never recover from! So, this first week of school went something like this:

August 25, 2011

We took two steps forward yesterday and got all five school-aged children off to school on time to three different locations! It took much planning and no fewer than five alarm clocks (seriously), but we managed it.



Joe left for middle school (I am still refusing to call it Junior High) before we could get a picture. Needless to say, our summer {non} schedule combined with my RA symptoms make mornings tough around here. My kids asked the other day if I would ever be out of bed and make them breakfast without them having to come and get/drag me out of bed. Why aren't I like the mom's on TV? You know the ones who have breakfast waiting and ready and wake their children with a happy song every morning? (I actually kind of had a mom like that, so it made it hard for me to tell them that those kind of moms aren't real). Seriously, all my sibs out there, our mom was like that, right? Or am I mis-remembering it?

Anyway, John made it through his first day of pre-kindergarten and was home only five minutes before he had changed into his Darth Maul costume. He was home only fifteen minutes before I found him like this: This is on the landing of our stairs....I don't know what happened...it appears that he litterally fell aspleep while walking up the stairs.




This morning, reality set in a bit more....no one was quite as anxious to get out the door. In fact, Charlie didn't make it there until after lunch. He was just too nervous to go - according to him. That's where the one step backwards comes in. I just had to wait him out...make it more boring at home than it could possibly at school. He finally cracked around eleven and made it in.

The novelty hadn't worn off for John though...in fact he climbed on the bus all by himself this morning without a second look back. I of course tailed the bus all the way to his elementary school (not the same one where Maggie, Harry & Charlie go, because, you know, that would just be too easy) and anxiously waited for him at the school. He looked at me like I was crazy when he saw me at the school. Is it crazy that I want my pre-kindergartner to have a cell phone and text me when he's arrived safely at school? Because I'm seriously considering it. It seems the older I get, the more anxious I become....or maybe it's because he's FOUR!

FOUR!

Who lets their four year old ride the bus to school without even an older brother or sister to help? The jury is still out on this one. I guess only time will tell. Maybe I'll just follow the bus everyday. But that seems kind of dumb.

Big sigh.



And what have I been keeping myself busy with? Yeah, you guessed it. Cupcakes. I guess I should be glad...there's just something about the everyday nature of it that wears on me. And every time I do another wedding I say to myself, "self, you should stop doing this...you don't really make any money and you just drive yourself and everybody around you crazy with your crazy anxiety". But then, I go to the venue and set everything up, and that part is fun..the energy at most weddings is pretty fun. So, again, big sigh, I guess we'll just have to wait and see on this one. After my last post about the Cold Stone corporates coming to check out the cupcakes, I feel it's only right to tell all you that they postponed their trip up to SLO (for other reasons they say). So, for any of you out there who keep going to your local Cold Stone Creamery looking for the On A Lark Cupcake Shoppe, I guess you may have to wait a little bit longer...or you may just have to make a trip to SLO - that might be more fun, and I can almost guarantee faster.

I myself am taking a little trip. Next week marks my 35th birthday.

GASP

"Why does this keep happening to us?!?, I thought we had a deal!"

Extra points if you know what TV show that's from and who said it. But you'd have to be almost as old as me to know it, so, you know, that's pretty old.

I'll be taking advantage of airline miles and a still unemployed husband (not complaining...seriously I don't know how I'd get the kids to school every day if he was going to work) and taking a few days up in Oregon with my parents and sisters...sans kids...at least of my own.

Now, time to get back to work...there are presents to be bought, and presents to be sewn (kind of in over my head on this one, but hopefully it will work out), back to school nights at three schools to attend, and a trip to get ready for. Battle on Girls, Battle on. (Triple points if you know what tv show that one comes from)

What Does Nothing Look Like?

Well, if you want to know the answer to that question, come on over to our house for a little tour.

We are currently into the long, hot, (well not too hot) dog day kind of summer. You know the kind...where the days are long but the weeks are so short....you stay up late watching shows like Toddlers and Tiaras and My Strange Addiction on TLC, and then quickly flip back to Lifetime for the new season of Project Runway. The kind of of days where, if you're a kid, you play musical beds at night, and just fall asleep in whos ever room you happen to be in when it's time for bed. The kind of mornings where you sleep in and wander into your parents room to find that they too have slept in. Maybe it's because their baby brother Jack has decided to really play up the whole "baby" angle he's got going on and stay up all night...insisting that either mom or dad stay up with him. Right now we're kind of playing tag team right now with him....counting our blessings that this little guy made it into our family, but also counting our blessings that we know when enough is enough.

Joe has a theory about how many children people should have....since I know you're dying to learn this wisdom...here it is, "you only know when you have enough children when you have one TOO MANY children...but what are you going to do about it then?" And really, I hate to admit it, but he's kind of right. I remember a very specific moment driving home from Disneyland, no less, with five children sitting happily in the back of our Chrysler Towne & Country. I looked at Joe and said, "I think we could handle another one...I mean...we just survived three days at Disneyland with five kids...and actually had a good time.....how hard could one more be?" Well,three years later, and we're still finding out, every single day with this kid!

Anyway, that's not the point of this post...but to be honest, there really is no point. Just some updates. Today is August 8, 2011. That means there are no less than 16 days left until school starts. We've started the back to school preparations...new backpacks and binders, markers and erasers. It's funny to see how some children are so excited to get back, while others are a bit more hesitant (No names will be named). Some children are excited about being upper-classmen at their school, while others are worried about starting back at the bottom of the food chain. Some have to worry about having hot lunch or packed lunch, while others are worried about finding each new class in the right amount of passing time.

We've been passing our time, and mostly, our days are pretty full. Joe finished up his transitional work at the bank, and has been home with us for over a week now. That has taken some getting used to, but then I got this email from our ColdStone Area Developers about our cupcakes. Here, I'll put in a little excerpt:

"Good Morning Joe and Brooke,

Congrats on what I believe is a successful Co Branding venture. You have increased your SSS +10.6% through June and our market average during the same period of time is -.9. We have been tracking your weekly sales, since January, and you are averaging $488 per week. With these types of numbers, I think it is time to let the secret out of the bag. However, I think it is important that we all talk about how we want to proceed. There are many areas that we need to talk about so we are on the same page…operations, marketing, display requirements, equipment requirements…and the like. Please let me know the best time (s) so we can arrange a call to start the process."

So, I guess that's good, but scary too....maybe look for an "On A Lark Cupcake Shoppe" in a Coldstone near you? But honestly, the thought of keeping this going in just one store is taking just about every bit of energy I've got...I can't imagine making it work in other stores...oh well...I'm sure the big guys at Coldstone know more than I do. So, with Joe home all the time, I have no excuse to not go in there and really make the cupcake thing work (although I seem to find those excuses every single day).

But, on another note, literally, having Dad home has some definite plus sides....like when you're Jack and you love Little Einsteins. Imagine the delight you have when you discover that your daddy can just play the theme song by ear on the piano for you? You look at your dad like a totally different guy after that. Or if you're six and starting second grade and know your times tables up and down but what you really want is to be able to play some Star Wars song on the piano like your older brothers can. So, one day, your dad just shows you how to do it. No book required...just your fingers and your ears (and a little tongue action) and you're set! I'm sure his piano teacher will be so happy to know that Charlie can play by ear...I'm sure that's just the preparation she hopes all her students will have. Now she'll get to spend the next few months breaking him of this lovely skill.

So yeah, for now we're running on love and faith and prayer, and also of course,on cupcakes and ice cream. So, if you're close, go on down and get some ice cream and cupcakes too...promise they'll make you feel like it's really summer...better hurry though...summer is quickly coming to a close!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, please enjoy this video of my almost seven year old playing some star wars song.....completely by ear.

/

Untitled from Brooke Brundage on Vimeo.

My Week In Pictures (And Some Words Too It Looks Like)

This was a busy week, even by my standards. It all started late last Sunday night when we were packing Joe for scout camp, and could find neither his Scout shirt or his permission slip that had been signed by a doctor. After a couple of fruitless hours of searching, I printed up new forms and had Joe and Joe run down to our ever so friendly neighbor who just so happens to be a doctor to get the new forms signed. The shirt was finally found (in the costume bin of course) and then I had to spend an half an hour sewing on some new patches. The crazy week continued the next morning when Joe IV came into our room where Joe III and I were sound asleep and said, "You Guys! It's 7:20!!" You see, we were supposed to be at the church for drop off at 7:30. And we don't live in Utah where your church is literally around the corner. It takes us a good nine to eleven minutes even at 7:20 in the morning. Luckily, we had packed everything the night before, so we threw everything in the car and sped over...made it just in time.

So what happened, why did my alarm not go off? Because I set it for 6:30 p.m.,of course. I found that out later, at exactly 6:30 p.m. when I was sitting in a meeting about Transitional Kindergarten for John. He got in by the way! I'm super excited about this. He'll go five days a week just like Kindergarten, but the class will serve as a bridge to Kindergarten. California just recently got smart (about this at least) and changed the cut-off date for Kindergartners from December second to September first. As a result of the new law, schools are required to provide (free of charge to the parents) a transitional class for those children born between those two dates. As a November baby, John is a perfect candidate for this class. Of course, the class will be held at a different elementary school than the one my other children attend, and Joe IV will be in middle school come fall, so Joe and I will have the unique challenge of getting five children to three different places all at the same time...sounds like good times!

So,onto the post title, my week in pictures....I had a wedding I did cupcakes for on Saturday afternoon. This was the first time I used my new "cupcake tree" to display the cupcakes, and I love how it turned out. So tidy and uniform...kind of like I wish my house were. The bride and groom were lovely...they live in Oregon actually, but she grew up in San Luis County, so they came here to enjoy some beautiful SLO weather. And the weather did not disappoint. It was perfect all weekend long.







I keep waiting for a bride to want cupcakes that all look alike (like Martha would do). I think it would be so pretty to just see rows and rows of perfectly perfect cupcakes. But I guess that kind of goes against the purpose of getting cupcakes instead of cake. You get cupcakes so you can have all those different flavors for your guests to enjoy. I suppose I just want to have my cupcake and eat it too.


On Friday night and Saturday afternoon, I was able to provide cupcakes for a local craft faire called "The Stitch Market". It is held at a woman's home 3-4 times each year and is full of homemade and handmade items made by women. It's full of pretty bags and aprons and clothing and jewelry. More importantly, it's full of creative women, who are always fun to be around. I saw a sign for sale there that said, "Creativity Takes Courage", and I thought how right that was. It takes courage to put your heart and soul and effort into something...and then to put it on display for others to critique.....to me, that is brave. But back to the cupcakes...because that's always where I go back to....I brought mini cupcakes for this event...I don't know what it is about mini-cupcakes...they're just so darn cute.









I found this cute little bird jewelry holder at TJ Max and turned it into a business card holder and a display for some of my cupcake toppers.


And a few other things happened this week.

I didn't get to bed before two o'clock for four nights in a row (last night being one of them and then I woke up at 5:30 unable to go back to sleep...hence the long blog post).

Maggie got a new bed frame with some storage drawers under it. She and her dad put it together one night while I was making cupcakes at the shoppe. We re-arranged her room a bit and de-clutterfied it. We'll have to take some pictures when it's fully done. I think Maggie is finally starting to warm up to the idea that being the only girl in a family of six is not an entirely bad thing. No one else gets their own room. Maggie also made dinner for us one night. Once, for reasons I can't recall, I made Hamburger Helper. Maggie loved it and is always asking for me to make it again. Joe IV hates it, and is always asking me never to make it again. So since he was away at scout camp, we got to have it. I was at the grocery store picking it up, and I texted Maggie asking what kind she wanted. She texted back what she wanted, and then, in a separate text, said, "Mom, remember that the meat doesn't come with the box...you have to buy it separately." I don't know why that hit me as so hilarious, but it did. I politely thanked Maggie for the tip and went over to the meat section to pick up some hamburger. What would I have done without that reminder?

I finally tossed out my old laser printer and replaced it with a new wireless color laser printer. I do a lot of printing for Coldstone and On A Lark, so I felt justified in it. Wow, can I say how much I love wireless technology? I mean, I know this is not new technology,but wow...I can print from any computer in my house? I can print directly from my ipad or iphone? Amazing.

Joe returned from Scout camp dirty and tired, but with a good attitude. He had not been looking forward to going...camping isn't really his style. But he apparently loved it. He received several merit badges including one he got for Wilderness Survival. To get that one, he basically had to go out into the woods with a sleeping bag and a tiny emergency kit, make a shelter, and stay the night! He got to do it with a buddy, but still...sounds pretty scary to me...especially when his friend woke him up at 5 in the morning to show him the mountain lion that was 20 feet away from their camp. Joe's friend asked him if he should throw a rock at the Lion, to which Joe furiously whispered NO!!!! Luckily, the mountain lion sauntered off before anything happened. But it was certainly a highlight (or low light) from his week at Scout Camp.

Harry jumped off the high dive at the local pool! May not seem like much to many, but to our family, it was an event three years in the making. I have it on video on my iphone, but it looks funny because I rotated my phone halfway through to catch more of the jump, and it looks like Harry is walking straight down the high dive. Anyway, it was a big day at our house!

Oh, and did I mention that Target opens is just six days? SIX DAYS!

And finally, this post, and all it's contents were brought to you by the following sponsor:


It's good stuff....melts your bones apparently,but good stuff none the less.

And now, it's time to get the children up for church and get going for the day. One thing I know for certain, there WILL BE a nap for me this afternoon. (And possibly during sacramnent meeting too....I've got the Lark headbob napping style down to a science now. :)

All Fuzzy and Dreamy

See this picture I took with my iphone this evening? I was leaving Costco, and just had to snap a picture of the image across the street. Yes, it's fuzzy and kind of dreamy looking, but that's a pretty good representation of how I feel about a TARGET opening only two miles from my home! Fuzzy and dreamy...like it's not really happening. But, it is...and today I learned that it will be opening not on the 24th of July like I had originally thought, but will actually open on the 18th of July. So, today is the eleventh of July, which gives me exactly seven days to figure out how I'm going to be able to live so close to a Target and still maintain a semblance of black ink in my checkbook.

This fall, it will have been 17 years since I moved to SLO to go to Cal Poly. I was 17 at the time....so I guess that's half my life at this point. But in all my 34 years, I've NEVER lived this close to a Target. Oh...I'm getting all fuzzy and dreamy just thinking about it now.

A Sad Goodbye

Remember this sweet little boy? You know, the one who loves all things trucks?The one who waits with such anticipation for garbage day? The one who had a garbage truck cake for his third birthday, and then dressed up as a garbage can for Halloween?






And then the next year was a UPS man for Halloween,



And celebrated his fourth birthday at the wrecking yard?



He's gone....lost forever to the dark side....and replaced with this scary little character:



I guess it was only a matter of time with three older brothers who have of late immersed themselves fully into the world of Star Wars. I guess the pressure was just too much....but after two years of this truck obsession, I was holding out hope that George Lucas was not going to get his hands on this little guy. But alas..a youngling become he has....

Luckily, I still have this little truck-lover to keep me happy....I'm sure it's only a matter of time for him too...but I'm sure going to enjoy him while I can!

The Third and a Half of July

So we started our Independance Day celebrations a bit early this year. Last year, when July 4th fell on a Sunday, we had fun creating a red, white and blue Sunday dinner. We liked it so much, we decided to go for it again. So, the decorations:



The food:
(The only time in the year we EVER have Jello)

(Nature's Popsicle)

(The red, white and blue drinks...which didn't really layer up quite right this year)

The Booty:
(mostly left over from last year's celebration)

The friends and fun:
(the kids made ice cream by shaking up baggies of ColdStone Sweet Cream mix, packed in rock salt and ice and then put into pillow cases. The jumping on the trampoline really helped with the shaking!)

And finally, the show:






(the "SAFE-ZONE"- where the kids hung out during the firework show)

After all that partying on the third, we still decided to take advantage of Joe having the day off from the bank and took the kids up the Ravine Waterpark for the day. We packed a lunch, left the lovely 76 degree weather of San Luis, and headed up to the 105 degree weather of Paso Robles. Amazing what 40 miles can do to weather. We had a great day and shut down the park, but opted out of taking the camera on the trip. Sometimes I feel like you just need to step back from the camera and actually enjoy the day...plus I didn't want to take the chance of me being photographed in a swimsuit! :)

After all that swimming and playing, we were hungry and ready for dinner. So we headed 30 miles southwest to Morro Bay for dinner at the kid favorite Bobs Big Boy Diner. Again, amazing what 30 miles will do for weather. We all suited up in our sweatshirts for our coastal dinner.

And, since we had already seen a firework show a couple of nights before at the San Luis Blues Baseball game, we skipped out on havoc of finding a place to park at the beach and then finding a place to see the show at the beach, and then just basically the pain of being at the beach (have I mentioned how much I hate sand?), and headed home for an early bedtime.

After celebrating for nearly 36 hours straight, we were ready for some sleep and relaxation. The fourth of July has quickly become one of my favorite holidays. I'm not sure exactly why. It's been so fun over the past couple of years to start and keep our own family traditions (can I say blow torch) for this special day. I think that next year, though, we'll skip the third and a half day of celebrations and just stick to the main event on the fourth!

Hope you all had a lovely holiday...no matter how you celebrated it!