File Under: Once in a While, I Just Need to Brag

I'm not really sure why I like to torture myself, but three years running, that's exactly what I've done.

2nd birthday:

3rd birthday:

Alexis has always picked what kind of cupcakes she wanted to take to school to share with all of her friends (we're talking about around 40 kids, btw). The flowers were an excellent pick. They turned out very cute, but weren't terribly hard to put together. A little time consuming, sure, but not hard.

We don't talk about the panda bears. They might not have been quite as filled with warm fuzzy memories for me. The kids liked them, though, and we'll pretend that is all that matters EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT.

This year Alexis set her heart on High School Musical cupcakes. More specifically, she wanted Mr. Danforth cupcakes. First of all, um, EWWWW! Second of all, um, HOW? I had no idea, so I consulted Dr. Google. He was a tiny bit helpful, but really didn't solve my issue. I found some of the plastic little picks with HSM photos on them, but at $2.50 a package, I wasn't really feeling the love. If I wanted to spend a fortune on this whole cupcake plot, I would trudge down to the grocery store and let somebody else do all the work.

I'm WAY too cheap for that.

Eventually I figured out to ask Alexis to pick out bits and pieces for making the cupcakes. She approved some sprinkles. She approved the concept of star-shaped cookies. She thought glittery gold frosting was pretty. She was committed to pink cake batter. A little WHAM! Some BAM! and VOILA!

Some lessons were learned. They may be boring lessons, but I don't care because next year I need to come back here and heed my own wise words.

1. This stuff? IS FREAKIN MAGICAL!

I was muy dubious, especially because of the $4 per can price tag. I'm too cheap to be paying $4 for something that is $2 if it comes in a regular old plastic tub. In fact, I only bought one can, knowing it wouldn't go far, but refusing to commit to breaking the bank. Then I used the stuff and learned that it is $4 for a can of time. Glorious time! I zipped through that first dozen cupcakes in no time flat.

(Psst . . . if you put frosting in a bag/tip thingy, it's much faster than spreading it with a knife. And purdier. You just go around in a circlish spiralish thing, starting at the outside. Once you finish the first layer, you do another circlish spiralish thing on top of the first one, covering the seams. PURDY! Or, let someone else take the time to shove that frosting in the tube by buying the can. Time! In a can!)

2. The recipe that's on the back of the box of cake mix sucks. Alter that sucker and the cupcakes will be moister and firmer, making them easier to decorate.

1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup oil
4 eggs
whatever cake mix

Mix and bake according to the direction on the box. So. much. better.

3. Put the batter in a storage bag, cut a corner, and squeeze it into the cupcake holders instead of filling them with a spoon. Faster. Cleaner. Easier.

And now to start speculating on what next year's theme of choice will be . . . it just better not be Jonas Brothers because, um, EWWWWW!

P.S. Not a sponsored post, but there is an Amazon Affiliate link up there somewhere.

If Only She Would Use Her Magic Powers to Slow Time Down

Dear Alexis,

FOUR! Can you believe it? Of course you can. You've been anxiously awaiting this day essentially since your last birthday. I'm not real happy that you went out and found that flux capicitator and magic juju that allowed you to fast forward time through the past year, but I'll forgive it because you have enjoyed this day more than Meg enjoys sleep.

Speaking of sleep, this is the year that I finally came to terms with something--you don't need sleep. I keep saying it because I find it so incredibly hard to believe. I mean, what's not to love about sleep? It's really my most favorite thing in the world. Besides you, that is.

You are, in every way, my little buddy. You had to be forcibly evicted four years ago as you had absolutely no interest in doing anything but drop-kicking my lungs and punching my bladder for the rest of your life. Now you've spent the past four years trying to find a way back in. I could say you are like a gangrenous growth that is constantly attached around my body, but I prefer to think of you as "cuddly." Very, very cuddly. (Secretly, I love every second of it. If I told you that now, though, you'd probably hire a plastic surgeon to just finish off the permanent attachment. We'll stick with me telling you to "find a hobby" instead.)

When you aren't busy trying to find your way back into my womb, you're running around belting out the songs in your heart. If you hear a song once, you own it. You will sing it, you will dance to it, you will be it. It's absolutely fantastic when the Song of the Day is something from High School Musical, but not so much when it's Opeth. My current favorite is when you start yelling, "BOOM BOOM POW" because there's nothing quite as funny as a short person declaring, "You're jackin' my style."

Simply put, nobody could ever jack your style.

You have an amazing style that is all your own, from the way you dress to the way you carry yourself day-to-day. With your heart in your pocket, you seek to make the world a better place, and you're doing it on your own terms. You enjoyed helping me select toys for some kids in need so much at Christmas that every shopping trip is now filled with requests like, "Can we buy this for the kids who don't have a lot of toys like me?" That giving heart is going to take you great places some day.

I can't wait to go those great places with you.

I love you, kid, and don't you ever forget it.

Happy birthday, Alexis. I hope Four is your greatest year ever.

Love,

Your Sleep-Deprived but Completely in Love with You Momma

One Last Look at the Face of Three

Psst . . .Last year's Birthday Eve post.