~Cake Walk~

Every year at the kids school, they have this fundraiser called Cake Walk. The grade 8's bring in a cake either homemade or store bought and then tickets are sold to the whole school and the cakes are raffled off. Kind of like a silent auction as the kids can buy as many tickets as they like.
Since Madison is in Gr 8 this year, she gets to bring in a cake. All of the money raised from the cake walk goes to the gr 8's for their year-end class trip.
Here are the cakes that Madison and I made.


The one on the left is a smaller version of the cake I made for Avery's b-day (kit-kat chocolate bars with chocolate cake and icing and smarties on top) and the one on the right is a cookies'n'cream chocolate bar cake. The cake is white with white icing and crumbled oreo on top.

The kids are looking forward to tomorrow and seeing all the cakes and 'bidding' on their faves. They have already told me that they plan on bidding on ours!

Maybe they will win one of these (or a different one) and it can be my birthday cake, seeing as tomorrow is also my B-day!

Christmas is coming & I need to get organized!

I have been slacking. I keep thinking about all that has to be done before Christmas, before December for that matter but yet I haven't really done anything.
I have started some Christmas shopping but not nearly enough is done. And of course, I make matters worse by browsing the internet and going to sites like Pottery Barn, where they make everything Christmas look so idyllic!

Maybe I need this craft organizer from PB to get me motivated! But at $229USD I don't think I need it that bad!
But it is so pretty! Yes, these are the things that make me excited!

Advent! It is fast approaching. The kids are wondering how I am going to top my advent Calendar from last year. They loved that one.
So far I have succombed to holiday advertising and purchased this Lego City Advent Calendar for the boy.


From the Pottery Barn website I saw these ones and they are really cute but way too $$$.

$99 for this one

$299 for this one!

Who shops at PB anyway?! Certainly not me!

Today, is the Santa Claus Parade. Avery will be a part of it this year with her dance school. She is super excited about it! She's been planning her 'elf' costume all week.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow is when I will get motivated. It always comes together in the end anyway!

~The "I want it" monster~

This week has been bit of a hard week for Caleb. Only now that I am at this stage again, can I really remember the girls going through it as well. Caleb is going through the "I want it" stage. I am sure that many of you reading this can relate! And really at this time of year when everything is geared towards children and their parents, it is kind of understandable.
However, lately he wants everything! It is getting hard to take him anywhere with me because he inevitably wants me to buy him something. Short of me not taking him anywhere (which is not an option!) we had to sit down with him today and have what I call "the need, want and have" talk.
I remember also having these talks with the girls every few months between the ages of 5-8 yrs old.
I explained to Caleb that he will always have what he needs. As his parents we will always provide him with unconditional love. As he grows we will provide him with food, a warm bed and clothes, he will never have to want or need these things.
Next, I explain to him that we all have wants of material things (for him of course his want is toys!). I explained to him that even Mommy and Daddy have things that they want and don't always get. He is not always going to get what he wants and that is just a fact of life.
And lastly, I explain to him that he should appreciate and focus on what he already has. I told him that he has many books and toys and many other things that he does not play with nearly enough and he has to learn to appreciate that.
This may seem like a lot for a 5 year old to take in but I really do have to say that he did understand what I was saying to him. Like I said I had these same talks with the girls when they were younger. It's all about putting things into perspective for them.
I just hope that it's working...