[ cake pops! ]

sooooooo... oscar my older son (6) has been doing a science program which involved spheres & as this came to an end we were asked to bring in a 'ball' shaped snack. i'm thinking away, yes there's cheese balls, cereal, meatballs etc but i wanted to get the boys involved & have some fun. then i had a gru (the super-villain from 'despicable me') moment!! LIGHT BULB!! cake pops!!! i'd seen them out of the corner of my eye on commercials... but i'm not the kind of person that runs out & buys gadgets to make specific things... (a) because i don't need anything else in my cupboards!! & (b) i'm not going to spend hours getting this thing clean after ever use... so although i was excited i was also half thinking this isn't going to happen. but to my surprise you don't need any 'machine' & they are PERFECT to make with kids!! super easy ~ a bit messy & DELICIOUS, so read on!!

[this is also a GREAT OT activity to get little hands & fingers moving!! could these get any better?!!]

all you need is:

a cake mix*
a tub of frosting*
chocolate bark or candy melts (from a craft shop like michael's)
lolly sticks (also from a craft shop like michael's)
 & whatever tickles your fancy to decorate them, sprinkles, nuts etc etc

that's it!!

*if you google these most people will start off with the red velvet cake mix & a tub of cream cheese frosting, but you can use any kind ~ make them fancy schmancy or simple. i started off with devils food cake mix & chocolate fudge frosting :) YUMMMMMMM!!!!

here's how you make them:

make the cake mix according to the directions (i explained to oscar not to lift the electric hand whisk out of the mixture... but i suppose he wanted to know why... !!!)

once the cake has cooled crumble it all up in a bowl & put in the tub of frosting ~ then get your hands in there & mix it all up!

next roll them into balls & place them on a baking tray covered in wax paper. i was reading that you can get 50 out of the mixture ~ but they must be tiny... i got 36

chill in the fridge, if you're in a hurry you can stick them in the freezer for 1/2 an hour.

next i melted the candy melts in the microwave. i have to honest & i was thinking these candy melts are going to taste really fake & not that great ~ but i was really pleasantly surprised!! they are delicious.

take the lolly sticks dip each one into the chocolate & stick it into the balls, this helps keep the sticks in place.

i managed to cover 20 with a 12oz bag of candy melts. you can't hang around because the chocolate will start setting... add the sprinkles / decorations as soon as you've covered each one so they will stick.

have something handy to stick them in... styrofoam is great... they sell styrofoam cones ~ i bet they would look great!!!

& that's it!!! when i picked up flynn from school lots of his friends came running up thanking me!! that's never happened before ~ unbelievable!!

so needless to say ~ this will be my new obsession!! move over jello!! :)

look at these useful sites, here & here & you'll be excited as meeeeee!! the possibilities are endless!!! please share your photos :)

[ pete the cat ~ i love my white shoes ]

sooooooo ~ I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! [ pete the cat ~ i love my white shoes by eric litwin (aka mr eric) ]

are you sitting comfortably? then i'll begin!!

pete the cat was walking down the street in his brand new white shoes. pete loved his white shoes so much he sang this song:

'i love my white shoes, i love my white shoes, i love my white shoes'

oh no! pete stepped in a large pile of strawberries! what color did it turn his shoes?

RED! did pete cry? goodness, no!

he kept walking along & singing his song (thinking 'everything is cool'):

'i love my red shoes, i love my red shoes, i love my red shoes'


oh no! pete stepped in a large pile of blueberries! what color did it turn his shoes?

BLUE! did pete cry? goodness, no!

he kept walking along & singing his song (thinking 'awesome'):

'i love my blue shoes, i love my blue shoes, i love my blue shoes'

 
oh no! pete stepped in a large puddle of mud! what color did it turn his shoes?

BROWN! did pete cry? goodness, no!

he kept walking along & singing his song (thinking 'groovy'):

'i love my brown shoes, i love my brown shoes, i love my brown shoes'


oh no! pete stepped in a bucket of water! & all the brown, blue & red were washed away.

what color were his shoes again?

WHITE! but now they were wet. did pete cry? goodness, no!


he kept walking along & singing his song (thinking 'rock & roll!'):

'i love my wet shoes, i love my wet shoes, i love my wet shoes'


the moral of pete's story is:

no matter what you step in, keep walking along singing your song... because it's all good.

THE END!

[ joao silva ]

sooooooo...joao silva, new york times photographer, stepped on a land mine in afghanistan in october 2010 ~ he lost both his legs below the knee. as soon as i hear 'stepped on a land mine' you know it's not good & i'm kind of waiting holding my breath for the extent of the injury. we hear about the losing limbs but rarely are all the injures talked about... joao had to under go reconstructive surgery to repair his badly injured colon & urethra.... once you hear that, the missing limbs suddenly aren't the breath stopping component...


this man is so calm ~ he felt that his number came up... & given the chance, prostheses permitting he'd go back to photograph more... wow ~ i'll need a few more therapy sessions before i can fully process that.



'CONFLICT ZONE,' inspired by joao silva, is an exhibition of photography taken by world leading combat photographers from the front lines of the wars in iraq & afghanistan is being shown at the New York City Fire Museum


Half of the proceeds will be donated to the CHRIS HONDROUS FUND (chris hondrous was one of joao's colleagues, killed in libya in april 2011), the rest will go to the FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION & the INDEPENDENCE FUND.



joao silva on voyeurism:

'Somehow the camera gives us access to the most intimate moments in peoples' lives. And you do feel out of place when you're photographing a mother cradling a dead son or whatever the case may be. Or a young Marine helping an injured friend — you do feel like you're somewhat out of place. But at the same time, you know that it's important to do it. It's what you're doing there. Otherwise, stay home and hang out with your PlayStation. ... You gotta learn to live with yourself and what you do. When you take pictures — and these are extreme situations — you are intruding. You're very fortunate to be able to record somebody else's history. I've always maintained that the true heroes are the people around me. ... I always understand that it's the history that I'm documenting — that's the whole point of being there.'

[ easy to make pipe cleaner roses ~ full instructions! ]

sooooooo... i can't take the credit for coming up with the idea... but i think they are brilliant!! and today i went into oscar's school for his 100th day party & made them with his class. the kids are 5 & 6 year olds & although they did need some help they all got it & you could tell they were all excited with the result!! great for fine motor skills.

& whats great is all you need are 7 pipe cleaners! 6 of the color you want the rose petals to be & 1 green one for the leaf.

i like using different shades of the same color.

check out how easy they are to make:

first take 6 pipe cleaners for the rose petals. tap them down to make sure they are the same lengths.

then hold them horizontally, find the middle & twist them round so they stay together.

put your finger on top of the twist & bend the pipe cleaners up to make the ring part & twist. make sure you can still get your finger in there...

next open up the pipe cleaners like whiskers.

pinch each end over & then roll them up to the middle.

do that will all the pipe cleaners.

then tidy the petals up... i like to start with the darker colors in the middle, take 2 & put them opposite each other, then put 4 around & the others go underneath.

next twist a green pipe cleaner under the petals & pinch the ends & roll up just like the others.

these make great boutonnieres & also are nice for decorating presents.

[ HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY ]

[ oh want fun it is to... ]

sooooooo...i've got to admit it's only been the second day of yoda, our 'elf on the shelf' & it's so much fun!! my boys are so excited especially when they go look for him & he's in a different place! the best time to move him is when we get in the car & i'll pretend to forget something & have to run back in... i do get a kick out of it & have caught myself doing a sneaky laugh!! today was flynn's turn to open the star wars advent calendar ~ which he very excitedly reminded me of at 6am this morning... i'm really not up on star wars at all... i remember when i told my husband the only star wars film i'd every seen was the new one... he face was the same one i pulled when i discovered our dog, lennon, had chewed up my drivers license... i had no idea who the figure was behind door number 2 ... after some research i find it's nute gunray... of course!! he doesn't look very happy... probably similar to my look when i'm woken up really early. i definitely wouldn't want to be stuck in an elevator with him!

nute

flynnster

[ HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! ]

sooooooo... i walked my son, oscar (6), to school ~ it was a lovely morning, a bit misty. My other son, flynn (4), trotted along happily with our old husky, lennon 11. lennon seemed really happy & enjoying the walk, his back legs seemed much better today, the arthritis not effecting him so much & i'm happy to say there were a few times that his tail even managed a curl, not seen that in a while.

oscar was asked to bring in a fruit today, to make a thanksgiving fruit salad with his class. we looked at all the fruit in the store & decided on a pineapple... then found a pineapple with 3 sprouty top bits instead of the usual one. so we had this pineapple in tow & i'd put in a brown paper shopping bag.

we reached school & said our goodbyes ~ i glanced behind me, as i walked away, to see oscar proudly showing off his pineapple to the kids in line, one of the handles had ripped off the bag & i knew it would only be a matter of time till that pineapple busted out!!

flynn & i continued home ~ the leaves seemed so much brighter today, beautiful colors as we high kicked through them... flynn asked me to carry his toy jet plane so he could hold my hand & he clung tight... i suddenly got butterflies in my stomach, the eve of a holiday my kids super excited, i was filled with childhood memories. we have a lot to be thankful for & i truly am.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all you wonderful friends & family x

flynn's center piece ~ gobble gobble