Friday, March 2, 2012

The Parts of my Life You will not see on Pinterest

My life is still in Triage Mode. When you live in Triage Mode, nothing is pretty. But we are all still alive and that is saying something.

Here is what we have been doing lately:

This is the cake I made for Luke's Blue and Gold Banquet. I know that in posting this, I am not helping my reputation for making ugly cakes.



In my defense, I decided to make a triple layer chocolate cake and I ran out of time. I had to frost it when it wasn't quite cool and I ran out of frosting. It looked like Hell. My hope was that people would assume Luke made it himself. Luckily, Luke is laid back and didn't care how bad it looked. He went to town with the blue frosting on the top and here is the end result:



Notice his neckerchief on skiwompus and his awful haircut..poor kid..where is his mother? Probably sitting at some table in the back yakking with her friends.

Here is the photo of the night (pirate theme) craziness.



Luke was George Washington in a school program. I provided the costume (pirate costume from parade last summer) and I was impressed to hear him give his part. It was substantial and the first time I heard it was when he gave it in the program...



I did take Luke skiing a few times and I figure that makes up for it.



Sammie went to a daddy-daughter fairy ball with Sam at our gym. That is all I have to report on her.



Ryan had a birthday party at Jungle Jim's. He turned four. He chose Sponge Bob invitations, a Batman cake and blue, orange, and green balloons. All of this had nothing to do with the Jungle Jim's party. There was a time when that would have bugged me. Those days are looong gone. He had fun.



Mitchell continues to be the cutest toddler on the planet. He is perfecting his "surprised face" and I caught it on camera. He helps me make cookies. If I ever bring you cookies, be warned that he has helped by tasting the dough between every.step.along.the.way.



I am still drinking a lot of Diet Coke but not feeling bad about it. My New Year's Resolution was to only have one when I really wanted one..I know..I am so hard on myself. But I went out with a doctor recently who told me he drinks Diet Coke non stop because he truly believes it kills everything in his stomach and keeps him from getting sick. That was all I needed to hear. I am upping my intake. Gotta stay healthy.

I keep thinking I am going to pull out of triage mode and my life will be pretty again and I will care what other people think. But sadly, I think I've resigned myself to the craziness.

22 comments:

Molly said...

I've stopped following most food and craft boards on Pinterest. I'm convinced they are only there to convince the rest of us that our cakes look like crap.

And I used to care if Graham stuck his fingers in whatever batter I was preparing. Then I remembered that it all gets cooked in the end. So now he is allowed to double dip his fingers to his heart's content. Don't tell anyone.

Greg said...

The Blue and Gold cake was great! I especially loved Luke's decoration of it. That kid obviously has good taste!

If it's any consolation, we recently had our Blue and Gold Dinner and we didn't even bother to make a cake. Fortunately, our cub scout didn't care.

I thought about trying to buy one at the last second, but realized that the last time I bought a cake it was from Mrs. Backer's Pastry Shop. That was just too far to drive!

katie said...

It doesn't matter how the cake looks, just how it taste. And if all else fails blame it on Luke.

I didn't notice the haircut until you pointed it out. Let's all be grateful it is Luke's hair and not Sammie's.

RyRy's mismatched party is awesome. I have a feeling that the more kids I have, the less I will care about how perfect their parties are.

I LOVE Mitchell. Enough said.

I hope that doc is right about the diet coke. I keep telling Cam that your dad has been drinking it for YEARS and he's not dead yet, so we all have hope.

D-dawg said...

Your kids are cute and I'm not just saying that. Also, I think life with four is just going to be crazy busy- I feel the same as you- like it's never going to end and it is hard craziness all of the time!!! It's just that time of life I guess. I'm glad you're still drinking coke- you deserve it.

Quelly said...

I am now in my 40's and am happy to report that once I crossed the threshold of not caring what everyone thinks about everything I reached a level of happiness/contentment I didn't know existed.

So refreshing.

Jill T said...

Cutest surprise face!
And I like Quelly's comment.

Elizabeth said...

I would say you have moved in the right direction if you are no longer bugged by mismatched party themes :-)
Way to go Luke with both the cake and the school program. Both are very impressive.
I reckon you could put Sammie on Pintrest(I have idea what that is)because every single outfit she owns is a work of art and she always look cute cute cute.
Both Mitchell and Ryan are gorgeous and the surprised face is gold.
I hope you took a list of your ailments with you when you went out with the Dr. Cant pass up free medical advice ;-)

Linda said...

I think Luke, his haircut, his neckerchief AND his cake are ADORABLE!! Loved all the pics and agree w/ Quelly.

Linda said...

AND, I've got to make cookies w/ Mitchell.

Shannon said...

I have to agree with the earlier post that it is a step forward in life in confidence, power, and peace when you can consider the opinions of other....or even the perceived, whether accurate or not, opinions of others...and not be ruled by them. It is liberating to live your own life and not live to please others. And let's face it...a perfect Blue and Gold Dinner cake isn't to impress the kids.

I love you Brooke. Hang in there, and realize that apathy about certain things really does come from maturity. I know that may seem contrary...but it's not.

I appreciated your listening the other day. I am not a believer in formulas at all, and look forward to the Lord making clear how to order my footsteps. Your listening simply let me know you care. That is priceless!

Shannon

Liz said...

Cake is cake....who cares what it looks like. Sadly, I always have frosting. I could have run some over. And Luke was the so confident as George. I have never seen him so vocal. Good for Luke!

alexandra said...

I think you are living your life in a very healthy way. Who has the time/energy etc to bake a perfect cake or ensure that every detail of a 4 yr olds birthday party perfectly coordinate in theme? It is easy to get overly caught up in the Martha Stewart details of life and miss out on the fun. Besides, since I have no Martha Stewart in me I feel better seeing other people let go of that stuff, too. You are a great mom.

alexandra said...

oh, that surprised face made me laugh out loud. he is one cute kid. they all are!

Ashley said...

These are your best posts. Buster is a gorgeous child. He could model. You always do a good job with stuff like finding pirate garb for everyone, and so funny that the pirate costume made a perfect George Washington as well! That cake is bad but not as bad with the child-drawn Y on it. And Happy Birthday to Dino! Way too many parties are focused on impressing parents rather than pleasing kids. Not that one!

The Mostess said...

It's not rude to make fun of people when they're in triage mode, right?

That cake. Oh my. I try and take pride in my cakes, and would probably have thrown it on the floor, and then claimed I didn't have one because it had fallen. Ask Lancer about my legendary lemon cake bomb.

Luke's bangs. HAHAHAA. Can we blame Sam for any of this?

Sammie looked so cute all dressed up, and Sam looked dapper and proud to be showing her off.

Buster--oh Buster--that face! The pudge! The cuteness is overwhelming.

And Ryan--sweet Ryan with his mismatched party. I may get to that point someday, but I'll fight it every step of the way.

The DeVito's said...

I agree with the dr. My dad wouldn't drink coke because of what it does to your stomach - he got stomach cancer. I NEVER get sick to my stomach and I have a coke a day!

Christie said...

That seals it. I will continue to drink diet coke. But only for my health.

And hey - if you are a parent ATTENDING the blue & gold, that's enough. No need for beautiful cakes as well. Pat yourself on the back for going to that monstrosity. :-)

Alex McMurray said...

I found this quote on Pinterest, "The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind the scenes with everyone else's highlight reel."-Steven Furtick

Thanks for keeping it real!

Unknown said...

You are the mom every kid wants, and the mom every mom wants to be. I think your doctor should write a book. I would buy it, on my way home from picking-up my rt 44 Diet Coke

Kristine Gray said...

1. You're awesome.
2. When is Mitchell going to get an agent?
3. I'm dreading my future in cub scouts.
4. Love your comment on Kaari's FB about meal planning. Tonight I opened the cupboard and asked the kids to pick the cereal they wanted for dinner. My daughter asked for broccoli, but she has her father's genes.

Andrea said...

Hey, we are giving you the Liebster Blog Award! Check it out on our blog at designtimesfour. We think you are great!

Julie said...

You seriously make me laugh! I thoroughly enjoy reading your blog from time to time and you never disappoint! But don't let that comment stress you out! No need to perform regularly for me! You are truly AMAZING!!!