Quick and Insignificant

This is really quick and insignificant (hence the title of this post), but I wanted to share it.

Bennett was just in the living room and let out a series of poots. Josh said to him, "Bennett, are you pooting?"

Bennett said, without looking up from his toys, "Nope." (long pause) "Not anymore!"

Lego Cake

Good things are happening around here lately, and I'll write about them soon.

But for now I just want to show you the fun Legos cake I got to make this week (and for some reason, Blogger is turning the nice pretty picture I have of it sideways, so this one I took in the kitchen will have to do):

It was a lot of fun, but took a lot longer to do than I thought it would. I think that's always the case, though.

When I get orders for these cakes, I usually do a Google image search and gather ideas. Well, I'm so sorry if this is really mean, but seriously? Take a good, long look at that thing. And it's a tutorial! I just can't imagine doing that cake and thinking, 'Man, I should really teach people how to do this.'

Okay, now I feel really guilty for being mean. Sorry.

Polka Dots and Thomas Cake

It's been a VERY busy two weeks. I am exhausted. Really. Josh went down to Palmetto to look at some brewing stuff today and took Bennett with him. They left at about 10:45am and got back just before 2:00. I slept almost the whole time they were gone. Much of the reason for that is the fact that Bennett was up half the night last night with a terrible stomach ache, so neither of us slept much.

Anyway, among other things, a couple of cakes came out of these very busy two weeks that I've had. First, a request for a brown cake with white polka dots for a woman's 65th birthday.

This cake wound up being a little more than I meant for it to be, but it was for a former neighbor, so I didn't really mind doing a little extra for her. Truth be told, I realized the bottom layer was not big enough for what she had ordered, so that's when I added the top tier.

Second, my very first attempt at Thomas the Train. She mentioned Thomas a while back, so I started looking for ideas. I had decided I wanted to do either a blue or green fondant covered cake (maybe two tiers) with a train track and Thomas going around it and trees and clouds on the side of the cake. As it got closer to the date of the party, she wrote and had decided on a Thomas shaped cake.

So my search changed a little, and I started looking at Thomas and shaped cakes a little more closely. I found a tutorial for how to make a Thomas cake that had some great tips and ideas. Josh wound up carving the cake for me. I know I could have done it, but he was willing and I knew he could do it well. And he did.

Once it was carved and crumb coated, I couldn't wait to get him all iced up and looking good. I had an absolute blast decorating him. It took me FOREVER, but it was a lot of fun.

Behold, Thomas:

I made his face out of fondant the day before so it could set up a little. I think his face is a smidgen too big (and he looks just a little bit like a chipmunk with his cheeks full of food), but not bad for my first try.


Bennett was quite excited to see Thomas sitting on his kitchen counter, and then equally disappointed mad when he was gone. I had to explain that he was for somebody else. And now when he sees a picture of Thomas or sees him on TV he looks at me and says, "Dat for somebody else."

Oh, He Makes Me Laugh

The other day, Bennett was in the living room with Josh and said, "My (I'm) gonna take a dump."

Josh looked at me, puzzled, and replied, "Where are you going to take a dump?"

Bennett said, "On Daddy's shoulder."

We both laughed, realizing then what he was talking about. He and Josh play a game that involves Bennett standing on Josh's shoulder and jumping off (Josh is sitting in the floor when he does this). So, Bennett wanted to take a jump on Daddy's shoulder.

And Bennett is all about being a big boy lately. We've been working on potty training (which is why the above statement was alarming for a split second), and have been talking about how big boys use the potty. So now everything is about being a big boy. He says, "No, my not baby, my big boy!" My dad calls him skid row every once in a while and he says, "No, my not skid row, my big boy!"

Tonight we ate dinner with my parents and afterward Daddy was going to let Bennett get a shower with him so we didn't have to deal with bath time once we got back home. He said to Bennett, "Bennett, I'm going to go get a shower, are you interested?"

Bennett said, "No, my not interested, my Big Boy!"

Update

I was trying to get better about posting here. I want to update the blog more frequently, but life is just too busy! I did well for a couple days there, then it came to a halt again. But here I am again, and I'll try to keep up.

There have been some super cute moments in the Gibson household lately that we have been trying to capture on video. Of course, once you actually find your camera and try to have the characters reenact the scene, it's never as good as the original. But we've done our best.

First, Bennett and Elizabeth with their first hit single, "Uncle Greg":

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Bennett and Cannon absolutely LOVE each other. Bennett loves to make Cannon laugh, and he's usually the only one that can really do it. Cannon will give me and Josh huge smiles and happy noises, but even when we try to tickle him he doesn't really laugh. All Bennett has to do is stand in front of Cannon and he cackles:

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And one that I've been trying to upload for about a month now - Bennett and his hyorn:

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I have come to the conclusion that children are therapy. When everything else is crummy, they can put a big ol' smile on your face. :) Ahhh.... I love my boys.

Makes a Mama Feel Good

I pick Bennett up from Montessori at 3:00 every day. Unfortunately, that's what time they go out to the playground in the afternoons, and I've always kind of hated taking him away right when he's about to get to go run around and have fun.

For the last few weeks it has been way too hot outside, so they have been spending their afternoons inside and I haven't had to worry about making Bennett miss his playground time. Today when I got there I peeked through the window of the door, and I saw the back door (that leads to the playground) open and Ms. Lupe holding Bennett's hand. He was first in line, and he was jumping up and down. For a split second I got really happy, just seeing him that happy, but before that second was over I realized what I was about to have to do. I braced myself for a fight. I walked in and Ms. Lupe said, "Bennett, your Mama is here." I expected a nice long, "Noooooo! I don't want doh home! I want doh outWIIIIIDE!"

Instead, he let go of Ms. Lupe's hand and mumbled under his breath, "My Mama here. My Mama here." as he made his way through the group of fellow toddlers waiting to go outside.
When got close to me, I put my hands out for a hug and he lifted his head and arms up with a huge smile. I picked him up and he wrapped his arms and legs around me and gave me a huge hug.

Heaven. That's where I was for that moment. It was so, so nice. I could have stood there and squeezed him for 10 minutes.

Might As Well Face It, I'm Addicted to Coke

Well, not so much Coke; more like Coke caps and boxes.

I have always been a big fan of saving money, and that naturally leads me to be a fan of deals and rewards. We are big Coca-Cola drinkers, since my dad worked for the Coca-Cola Bottlers' Association for almost 30 years, retiring a few years ago. Put the two together, and there you have my addiction.

For anyone that doesn't know, Coca-Cola has something called the "My Coke Rewards" program. On every Coke product, there is a 12 digit code. You sign up online at www.mycokerewards.com, enter your codes, and as you accumulate points you can redeem them for fun stuff (magazine subscriptions, movie passes, Coke gear, more Coke, etc.). I love it. I never pass up a chance to get stuff for free. I know it's far from free, but we'd be drinking the stuff anyway, so to me it's free.

So of course I keep the cap of every bottle of coke we drink, and the end of every cardboard box gets torn off before going into the recycling bin. My parents keep theirs for me, and so do Josh's parents. Greg and Cici used to give me their caps and box ends, but I think they've caught on and have started entering their own codes. Good for them.

But this isn't where I stop. Josh and I are lucky enough to get to go to several of Georgia's home football games each year with his parents. After each game, I scour the stands for coke bottles that people have left. I unscrew the tops and drop them in my pocket or empty cup. Josh and his parents usually enjoy sitting and listening to the band's post game show since Josh and Lauren were both in the Redcoats and are used to that ritual. I use this time to rack up on Coke points.

It's strangely fun for me to scan the rows, using my Coke radar to spot the caps. I have to draw a line for myself for which row to stop on, or else I'd find myself halfway across the stadium. But then it kills me to spot several Coke caps just lying there, right on the other side of my 'line,' just waiting to be picked up by the cleaning crew and dumped in the trash. Often, I break my rule and cross the line for 'just one more.' And I guess that's the problem with any addiction. You just can't get enough.

Since we have to walk almost the entire length of the stadium to exit, I usually walk through the stands rather than down next to the hedges, just so I can score a few more before having to leave.

And, embarrassingly, on our way to the car I check out the trash cans for any coke bottles with the caps still on. I don't dig through any trash cans. If you've ever been to a Georgia (or any) football game, you know that by the time the game is over, every trash can is spilling over. I only take a cap if it's right on top or lying on the ground.

And yes, I keep hand sanitizer in my purse.

It's probably still a little gross, I admit, but it's my addiction and I don't care.

We went to a show at Chastain Park a few weeks ago (my first time at Chastain - wow, what a great venue) and I did the same thing after that show. My search wasn't quite as intense as it is at Sanford Stadium, because 1) it was dark, 2) most people drank beer rather than Coke, and 3) I was with my friends and was being more secretive about it. How embarrassing. I mean, just how poor are Marcie and Josh that she has to take other people's Coke caps to enter online? I know Josh lost his job, but geez... That's what I imagine they'd think.

I was driving down Bankhead Highway one day and saw a 24 pack Coke box lying on the ground next to the railroad tracks. It was all I could do to keep driving forward. I wanted, so badly, to turn around and get that sucker. That's 20 points!

Ugh. It's bad.

Anyway, the whole point of me spilling all of this is to show you what made my night last night. Josh's parents came to visit last night. They have some really great friends in Snellville that got wind of my love for collecting Coke points and did an amazing thing.

They enabled me:


!!!!!!!!

It's Christmas in September!

What a lovely, lovely thing. And Tim, while I'm sorry that your eye sight is not as great as it used to be, making you unwilling to squint and decipher each and every tiny little code, I am thrilled to receive this box of free stuff ('cause that's what it ultimately is)!

*Okay, here we go. Please know that I do not take lightly the word 'addiction.' And because there are a few addicts out there that I hold near and dear to my heart, I want you to know that I do not condone the phrase I used, "but it's my addiction and I don't care," or the act of enabling an addict. Addiction is a dangerous thing and should be dealt with seriously and carefully. There. Felt like it needed to be said.