Food & Finances Friday--Cupcakes

There are two areas in my life where I am attempting to really "mature," as much and as quickly as I can--Food and Finances. I have been on such a slow path in these two areas, as I have been slow to grow in the past. I decided to turn them into a weekly theme and share the details...hoping to help myself with personal accountability...

I have reached a new level....I am the Mom who makes home-made cupcakes!

I crack myself up about this, because I used to buy all of my goods for every potluck and every snack day, in the not-so-distant past. I used to buy all of our birthday cakes too. I would explain this away by joking that my cooking skills were not safe for the public to consume.

As I have been cooking our meals at home, and baking with the kids, I am finding that I can whip up a treat in the kitchen, faster and cheaper than I can buy it at the store.

So, when it was time to bring cupcakes for Jersey #1's end-of-season party for basketball, I made them at home. She helped me frost a few. We bought little basketballs to place into the frosting on top. They were really cute.

When we arrived to the party destination, I learned that another Mom had also brought cupcakes. She had found those little plastic rings that I had been looking for. She found them because the store had them, and she bought the cupcakes at the store. I admired her cupcakes, and she admired mine.

I was highly entertained by the response that the other Moms gave as well. They all admired my cupcakes. The little basketballs on top were cute. But, the thing that got the most response was that they were home-made. One Mom grabbed one of my cupcakes to save for dessert, even before her pizza arrived. She said she didn't want to miss out.

I see now that home-made cupcakes are a rarity to busy families. No one has time to stay home and bake anymore, it seems. After hearing a couple Moms speak of it so fondly, my eyes were opened to the blessing that it really was. It was not the taste, flavor, or look of the cupcakes that meant so much. (Actually, I thought the store cupcakes were perfectly shaped and more moist.) It was that they were made at home. Many of us had memories of baking cupcakes at home with our Moms, in preparation for a school party or a birthday, during our childhood.

My daughter has the memory of baking at home with me, making basketball cupcakes for her team party. That was a bigger treat than I had planned.

Tag

Life is absolutely crazy right now.

It is as if my husband and I are involved in this giant game of tag. We have so many activities going on, that we are to the point of tagging each other when it is time to shift the responsibility.

The Referee was on travel of his job for 5 days last week. It was only suppose to be 4 days, but snowy weather canceled many air travel schedules, and he was stranded an extra day. I held down the home-front. I am not meant to be a single parent. I require more sleep than that. My husband arrived home late in the evening on Friday. We managed to eat dinner and put the kids to bed, before we both dropped into bed ourselves, from sheer exhaustion.

We were up early Saturday morning. That was the day of the last basketball games of this season. We were signed up to bring snacks for Jersey #2's team, so I was up early to pack snack goody bags, pack the diaper bag, set out clothes for the kids, and write out checks for the bills. We loaded the family up in the van and headed out early, so we could stop off at the bank and pay the mortgage.

The Referee was the referee for Jersey #2's game, as well as the 3 games that followed, that day. He literally ran up and down a basketball court for 4 hours! I got to watch half of Jersey #2's game before I had to load up the remaining 4 children and shuttle Jersey #1 to her game. I dropped her off in the care of her coach, and drove back to the first gym to pick up Jersey #2. I arrived just in time for the team Mom to announce plans for an end-of-season party, and her desire to collect money for the coach's gift. I ran out to the van to grab some cash out of my wallet for the gift, and ran back into the gym. I checked in with The Referee, and let him know I was taking Jersey #2 with me, and was now responsible for all of our children.

Tag....I'm it!

I drove over to the gym where Jersey #1 was playing her final game. I arrived at half-time. Since I am the team Mom for her team, I then helped the coach give out awards, and reminded the team (and their parents) about the end-of-season party I had planned. I gathered all 5 of my kids and headed out to the van.

While the Referee was busy being the referee for 2 more games, I took the kids with me to Jiffy Lube to get the oil changed in the van. They were quick and they had popcorn for the kids to snack on while we waited.

We returned to the gym to watch the last half of the final game. The kids swarmed The Referee when the game was over. We loaded back up in the van and drove to Dollar Tree to let the kids spend their Valentine's dollars from their grandparents.

The Referee received a call that he was needed to drive a run for that shuttle side-job he has. He decided to eat and take a nap, so he would be rested for the late night driving. I had the kids help me straighten the house and complete some light cleaning, while The Referee napped. He hugged and kissed us good-bye and went to work. I fed the kids and got them ready for bed.

The Referee made it home Sunday morning with just enough time to shower and help me load up the kids in the van for church. I think we spent more time together sitting next to each other in the pew at Sunday school than we had been able to spend together all week! That time was cut short when The Referee worked the audio/visual booth during the morning church service. Just before he went up to the booth, he informed me that we could not doddle after church, because his side-job duties ran earlier than anticipated.

We returned home after church, whipped up a quick lunch, and The Referee was off to work again, with another shuttle run. Jersey #1 had a friend over for the afternoon, to get ready to spend the night at her house that evening. I took care of the kids and balanced the monthly budget.

The Referee returned home just before bedtime and helped me put the kids to bed. I had to set the alarm to wake me up early, because I had to report for jury duty first thing this morning!

Tag....He's it!

The Referee spent the day home with the kids, while I spend the day at the courthouse, serving on the grand jury. He was concerned about checking in at work, since he had been away all last week. On my lunch break, we ran over to his workplace, so he could make a brief appearance and check the status of a few things. He had driven me to the courthouse this morning, because I when I went to back out of the driveway in his car, the rear view mirror fell off into my hand and we did not have time to fix it just then. His chauffeuring me worked out great, because I could stay in the van with the kids while he ran into work for a few minutes.

When The Referee picked me up from court at the end of the day, the first thing he told me was that he has no idea how I ever manage to get anything else done while taking care of the kids all day! He never found the time to shower.

Court let out late, so we only had 2 hours before The Referee had to go drive for another shuttle run. We decided to race through 2 stores to complete our grocery shopping. We spoiled the kids with a candy at the end, because they were such troopers and behaved so well through it all. We returned home and unloaded the groceries. The Referee jumped into the shower while I put groceries away.

I corralled the younger kids into the bathtub while he changed the light bulb in the playroom. Then, he was off to work again, driving a shuttle run. I got the kids into their PJs and let them watch a Veggie Tales DVD while I ate a very late dinner.

The Referee will be home late tonight. He has to set an alarm to get himself up early tomorrow to return to his regular job. He has to work 10-hours a day for the next 4 days, to make up for the fact that he was home with the kids today, so I could report for jury duty.

I return to homeschooling, home-making, and childcare tomorrow. Plus, I am hosting Jersey #1's basketball team party. This whole week is filled with activities. I would say that things should mellow out by next Sunday, but we've been told that the shuttle business is booming right now, and the week is full. So, The Referee will probably be going strong next weekend too. So, as far as the home-front is concerned.....

Tag....I'm it!

End of soccer season parties

The soccer season is over. Whew! As Team Mom for both teams, I was responsible for the trophy order and for planning the end-of-season party. That was quite the challenge, due to having 2 soccer team parties and one birthday party for our own child all centered around the same weekend. Yikes. It was also quite challenging to get participation for the trophy order in a timely fashion. In an attempt to encourage me, my husband assured me that these things always work out. I reminded him that is people like me--who take care of all the details--who help these things to work out! In the end, he was correct that it all worked out. I eventually received all of the money for the trophy orders (even though I had to front the money for a few of them in order to get the order in on time). The trophies were ready in time for the parties (and I only had to alter my schedule a little bit to be available to pick them up when they were ready). The parties were planned over two weekends, so they did not collide with the birthday party. The weather even cooperated for the outdoor party at a park. Both end-of-season soccer parties were attended by ALL of the players on the team....and they were great fun! Jersey #2's team had a picnic at the park....she is the one getting attention burping after drinking rootbeer in the picture.


Jersey #1's team got to make their own pizzas at the pizza restaurant owned by the family of one of her teammates. The younger siblings received a chance to make their pizza too. They all claimed that the pizza tasted better since they got to make it themselves!

Soccer

I love to play soccer. I played when I was a kid, starting in 5th grade. I was able to petition and start up a girls' soccer team when I entered high school (because I was not permitted to play on the boys' team, since it was a contact sport). When we were engaged, I convinced my husband to join me on a co-ed adult soccer team. He had never played before. He was naturally athletic. I was still a klutz. He had an Ok time, but was not very impressed. I had a blast. I even sprained my ankle during a game, and still thought it was a blast.

When our Jersey #1 was in kindergarten, I volunteered to coach her first soccer team. My husband reluctantly became the team referee, because I had no luck getting the other parents to help out much. I had a blast coaching. My husband liked being the ref for his kid's game, but disliked that we were shouldering so much responsibility for the team. [He had a point: there were days when I was standing on the sidelines, coaching with Jersey #4 strapped to my chest in an infant carrier, and Jersey #2 & #3 playing at my feet, while my husband was on the field as referee....while a slew of parents and grandparents from our team sat on the sidelines to watch the game, but not volunteer for anything!] I was not able to coach this past soccer year, when we've had 2 soccer players, because Jersey #5 was due to be born during the Fall soccer season. Instead, I became Team Mom for both teams, and my husband became team referee for Jersey #2's team.

As much as I love soccer, I sure was happy to see this soccer season end yesterday. It turned out that with 2 daughters playing soccer on 2 different teams, at least half of their games overlapped or were scheduled at the same time. Instead of attending soccer games as a family and cheering on our girls, we were split up, going in two different directions. That was no fun. We rounded out the season with a finale reminiscent of that first soccer year....I was asked to coach for Jersey #2's team (because her coach was out of town that day), and my husband was the referee for that game! I will include a couple pictures. The really cool part was that Jersey #2 was thrilled to have her Mom coach her team...I had a blast coaching....and she scored her first goal that game!