Once Upon a Life

QOTD: Friday, November 20th 2009

Alysia — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:47:34 GMT

:wavey: Sorry for the delay! I had to move desks at work this morning.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Kids Say Funny Stuff

Karly — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:07:08 GMT

What have your kids said recently that just made you crack up? :)

Last night, Tyrus said to Alexis "When grown-ups say 'we'll see' it means no." :spit: He looked at me and said, "isn't that right mom?" And I said, "we'll see!" :lol:

CakeWrecks: Cue Cards, Please?

Nellie Newsworthy — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:00:29 GMT

Last week we looked at cakes that took labeling a bit too far. Today, let's look at the other side of the coin: when cakes really need to give us that hint.

See, once you read the text, and figure out that this has something to do with some sort of ski, it suddenly all makes sense! (Sort of.)

[smacking forehead] Oh, of course! It's TNT! How could I have missed that?

Now, if you're going to give us hints, Wreckerators, it helps if they're at least somewhat legible:

Do you KNOW how long I squinted at this thing, trying to figure out why there were black jellyfish on it? Well, do you?!?

(No, I am not going to tell you what it is. I squinted hard for that knowledge, peeps.)

It also helps if the hints are spelled correctly:

So, we've got a fat anthropomorphic top lip with arms, and it says "Gone Crabiy." Oh kaaaay.
(Well, I guess the word "crab" IS in there...)

Then there are the more cryptic hints:

"Cakes" like this (and I say "cakes" because, as you all know, cupcake cakes are NOT real cakes) can help us brush up on our deductive reasoning skills. Observe:

1. There is a number on the shape, and the cake board reads "Win! Win!"
2. Numbers and winning are often associated with sports.
3. Therefore, the "cake" is a stretched out, radioactive uterus.

Meg, Paula B., Robbie, Kaycee M., & Julie M., with that 8 on there the temptation to make some kind of OctoMom crack is rather strong - but I resisted, just for you.

You're welcome.

- Related Wreckage: Say What?

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How far do you live from a business?

Joan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:36:02 GMT

I live just over 3 miles from the nearest store (a 7-11). This is the farthest I have ever lived from a store. I feel like I live in the boonies!

How far do you live or have you lived from a place where you could purchase a cold beverage?

CakeWrecks: Batter UP!

Nellie Newsworthy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:20:56 GMT

Frankly, Carianne, I don't think I can top the genius of the pun that is 'batter up', so I'll just quit while I'm ahead.

PS: Take that, Failblog.

- Related Wreckage: Freud Would Have a Field Day

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Carseat safety question

AmyP — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:01:35 GMT

So, I got new carseats for the kids because of our recent accident, and of course the insurance will reimburse us. I'm sure in the end the money will come from the other person's insurance since it was her fault, but as far as I'm concerned, that's for my insurance to handle.

Anyway, I need to install them in my pickup truck because my car goes to the body shop tomorrow and I'll be driving the pickup while my car is being fixed. It's an F-150 Supercab, which means it's a pickup with the smaller backseat.

The problem? The LATCH anchors are in weird spots. There are upper tethers across all three back seats, but the lower anchors are only in the back middle seat and front passenger seat. I think it's downright idiotic, but there isn't really anything I can do about that. I don't have rental car coverage, and I can't drive our other car with the kids because it's a 2-seater.

So, I'm trying to figure out the best places to install the seats. Sarah is about 42-43 pounds and is in a Graco Nautilus (using the 5-pt harness because I don't trust her in a booster). Sean is 23 pounds and rear facing in an Evenflo Titan.

What do you suggest? I was trying to decide between installing the seats on the opposite sides of the backseat using the seatbelts or putting Sean in the back middle seat using LATCH and Sarah on one of the sides using the seatbelt and the upper tether. I don't like the idea of putting either kid in the front seat, even though I can turn off the airbag.

Ideas for Building Confidence

Alysia — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:14:13 GMT

We had our first parent/teacher conference with DD's Kindergarten teacher this morning. DD is meeting or above standards thus far but her teacher thinks she would be exceeding standards if she wasn't so shy and had more confidence.

She has a hard time getting DD to raise her hand and/or share with the class. When DD does share with the class, she speaks very quietly and the teacher can't hear or understand her and if the teacher asks her to say it again DD clams up.

Any tips? :help:

QOTD: Thursday, November 19, 2009

Alysia — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:52:19 GMT

What kind of student were you in school? All A's, A's and B's, C, Honors classes etc

Ride on car

Cami — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:50:28 GMT

Do any of your kids have a battery operated ride-on car, truck, or motorcycle thing like this? This one is Power Wheels Kawasaki and is $175. Brady says it's the only thing he wants (for Christmas, but we'd get this for his birthday, I think). He's wanted one for years. He used to ride our neighbor's Barbie car.

Anyway... my questions:
Any specific recommendations as to which one?
He's turning 5. Will he outgrow this way too quickly to be worth it?

CakeWrecks: All Your Base Are Be Wrong To Us

Nellie Newsworthy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:40:04 GMT

I've had a few requests for more sports-related cakes, since I think there was a World Series or something going on at some point in the recent past. (My perception is uncanny, I know. Let's just say my "sporty sense" was tingling.)

So let's see...that's baseball, right? Okey doke. [virtually rifling through photos] Uhhh. Ah! Here we go:

Mmm, this reminds me of that most fragrant of bakery delicacies: the moldy kitchen sponge. And that Christmas tinsel? Flossing WIN.

What's wrong with this baseball diamond? Ah, the answer is in the question, grasshoppah. [nodding sagely] The answer...is in the question.

Now, I never thought I would say this, but...Thank goodness for plastic flotsam!

How else would we know this is an Elmo/baseball kite?

Natalee S., Mary G., & Hannah - those "baseballs" are terrifying. Hold me?

- Related Wreckage: Sporty Spice Cakes

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QOTD: Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Alysia — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:54:59 GMT

Where are you spending the holidays? (Thanksgiving/Christmas)
Are you staying home? Are you hosting? Going to visit family?

Alyson (and anyone else in the know) - LA/Hollywood advice please

Clare — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:24:15 GMT

Okay, we are going to be in Los Angeles for 4 days (at this stage) and am trying to figure out how to do everything that we want to do in that time.

Any advice would be appreciated, especially on:

* where to stay? In the past I've usually stayed at the Airport Hilton, but would we be better in Hollywood or Malibu or Santa Monica or elsewhere?

* is one day at Disneyland enough? (bearing in mind that we are also going to DisneyWorld.)

* would it be better to visit Disneyland on Monday rather then Sunday or will it not make any difference in summer? (we will be in LA from June 12th to June 15th.

* we'll be spending two days at Universal Orlando - is it worth visiting Universal Hollywood as well or are they the same? The kids (especially Sammy) love Back to the Future, but I thought I heard that the Hill Valley set burned down. Is there still Back to the Future stuff there?

* we'll be hiring a car so will do a tour of the stars homes ourselves (with addresses/map provided by Alyson :heee: ) but are there any other tours that are must dos?

* are there any studio audiences that we could be part of? I was hoping to take the kids to a taping of one of their favourite shows, but the minimum age for Ellen Degeneres is 14yrs and the minimum for the Disney shows is 12. Are there any shows that let younger kids be part of the audience?

* Harry wants to go to a Lakers game - is June basketball season and is there any possibility of getting tickets?

* San Diego Zoo vs Seaworld? Is one better then the other? I really don't think we'll have time to do both. We are going to skip SeaWorld in Orlando cause there's so much else to do there, but should we make it a must do in San Diego? The boys are obsessed with San Diego Zoo because of Madagascar and want to go there :dunno:

I think that's all I can think of right now, but please offer other suggestions and advice. Thanks!

LED lights for Christmas tree or outdoor decorating

marcy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:27:09 GMT

Do you use LED lights or regular style?

If you use LED lights, how long have you used them? Do you think you save $ on electricity? How well have they worked for you?

If you use regular lights, do you plan to switch? If so when? As you probably have seen in ads Home Depot and Lowes are giving a $3 credit if you turn in an old strand of lights and purchase an LED strand. My friend said LED strands of 50 are about $9.99 and regular strands of 50 are about $1.50. They say that LEDs use 80% less electricity.

CakeWrecks: What's Black & White & Wrecked All Over?

Nellie Newsworthy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:18:15 GMT

No, not this guy:

Source
"Dude, are those Cheetos?"

See, his stripes actually look like zebra stripes. Which is fortunate, since he is, in fact, a zebra.

Ask for zebra stripes on your cake, however, and there's no telling what you'll get. Maybe Jim's "huuuge pointy teeth!" model:

Or perhaps something that makes you e-mail Christina B. to ask what the heck it's supposed to be, since the pattern has burned out your visual cortex:

(Yes, she really did have to tell me this is the number 30. How embarrassing.)

Then there's Kristen N.'s post-modern, depressed zebra stripes:

(Why depressed? Because it's a little blue, of course.)

And then, the really lucky ones get a little of Beth P.'s airbrush action:

Ah. Such skill. Such attention to detail. Such...airbrushiness.

But the really, really lucky ones get a shell-less albino turtle covered in gills:

Ha! Just kidding! Those stripes are way too good.

Kayla U., maybe your baker was trying to make the majestic zebra turtle. Eh?

- Related Wreckage: Monkey See, Monkey Doo-Doo

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QOTD: Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Alysia — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:35:51 GMT

What are you looking forward to this week?