Easy-Bake Memories

I got my son an Easy-Bake Oven for Christmas.

Don't judge me.

It wasn't pink, which I think was a brilliant move on the manufacturer's part.

But Eric has loved to "cook" and "bake" and "take your order" ever since he figured out how to say the words. I remember the first time he saw a commercial for the EBO {Easy Bake Oven}. He was so quiet and so focused on what was going on. Then he turned to me and asked, "Mommy, is that real food? Can you eat it?" When I told him yes, he just couldn't believe it. And the usual stream of requests followed.

I grabbed one from Target while they were on sale, along with a few packages of gender-neutral snacks to bake {i.e. brownies, cookies, cake with white frosting, i.e. nothing pink}. He was so excited to try it and {once I managed to remember a light bulb} we finally set aside some time to "bake".



That little cowpie on the plate is his successful brownie! He is really laughing in this picture; he was so thrilled with the whole process! And after we ate dinner, he was able to enjoy all his "Easy" work.

Why Is the Stone Yellow?

The last time I visited Yellowstone Nat'l Park, I was young. Let's see, to be more specific, I was probably about 11.

And that was the only time.

At the time, it was only LoriAnn, Traci, and I. My folks had been invited up to go snowmobiling with some friends from church. Had they known that their friends were reckless maniacs, our plans might have changed. But, we found out the hard way. {The men were regular snowmobilers; my dad -- not so much. They flew through the snow at alarming speeds. And not only did my dad not want to do that in the first place, but he also had LoriAnn and I riding with him. My dad's cheeks got so cold, the skin turned white. And Lori and I just wanted to get off.}

Anyway, my point is that what I saw of Yellowstone was a literal blur. I had heard tales of close encounters of the buffalo kind, but didn't get to see if they were true. So, it randomly struck me the other day {some 15 years later} that it would be fun to go. We have some snowmobiles, and I know Eric would absolutely love the wildlife {which I plan on seeing this time}. And I've never seen the geyser!




And I keep hearing about this "so-called" place. . .what was it? Jackson Hole? :)

More Head Trauma

*WARNING: Pictures contain a bloody cut. Those with weak facilities may want to avoid this post.*

Sunday, the 10th, after the church service was over, Levi and I went to pick up Eric from his Sunday School class. I was signing him out as the teacher was telling me that he had been rocking his chair back and forth (which is a no-no) and managed to rock it too far, crashing backwards into a toy shelf.

She said he had bonked his head and cried a little bit when she picked him up and hugged him. But that he ended up just sitting shyly on his chair for the last few minutes of class. She didn't page me because she knew I'd be there in just a few minutes.

As soon as he came out of the room, I grabbed him in a big hug and he started to cry again. I asked him if he bonked his head and I cupped the back of his head with my hand. Then Levi told me there was blood. I looked at my hand and sure enough! The teacher hadn't seen it either and felt just awful that she didn't notice it.


So, I walked him into the bathroom so we could clean it up. I wasn't overly concerned because, as Levi has demonstrated, head wounds always bleed very readily. Well, the more I gently cleaned it, the better I could see what we were dealing with. Eric had a perfectly straight split on the back of his head. I called Levi into the women's bathroom and he said, "Yeah, he needs stitches." I was fine, just bummed out that we were going to have to take my baby to the doctor for another relatively serious reason. {The last time he was at the doctor's was to have his cast taken off his leg and that involved a very noisy saw.}


Eric started crying really hard when we told him that we were going to have a doctor help make it better. He was just really nervous. But as soon as we got there, he was fine! Even when he was told to lay down on his side, got the numbing shots and even when the staples* were being put in. Eric just played with Levi's cell phone, taking pictures of us and laying really still when he needed to. I was so proud of him!


And of course, we met up with my family for lunch afterwards and he was in the spotlight and loving every minute of it!


*They did 5 staples instead of stitches because it was in Eric's hair. We were told that removing stitches can hurt if the hair has been sew into them at all.

Sliced & Diced

If you know my husband at all, you know how accident-prone he is {though some was call it karma, justice, you reap what you sow, etc.} :o)

Well, to add another tally-mark to his list of tragedies, please see Exhibit A: The Scalp:


Levi was working down in the salvage yard one frozen evening. He had his head under the mangled hood of a wrecked vehicle. The windshield had been busted out of it in the accident and was somehow thrown over the hood. I'm not completely sure of all the details because I heard about it in between phone calls of "I think I need to go to the hospital." and "There's blood everywhere." So, bear with me.

Anyway, the cracked windshield managed to collapse onto his head. It broke far more easily than normal because of the low temperature. And it made about 2 dozen perfectly straight cuts right on the top of his head.

I wasn't home at the time; I was about 15-20 miles away when this happened. I started getting a steady stream of phone calls from Levi. This, I expected, because he is prone to get a little dramatic in stressful situations. But, to his credit, he also couldn't see the top of his head and evaluate how badly he was cut. I told him to try and relax because head wounds always bleed like there's no tomorrow, but to try not to fall asleep.

When I got home, I found him sitting on the couch holding a bloody towel against his head. To be honest, one of my first thoughts was "You better not be getting any blood on that couch, mister!" But I quickly recovered with asking him to come into the kitchen {away from the couch} so I could examine his head. The bleeding had stopped, so I asked him if I could gently put some Neosporin with pain relief onto his head to help fight any possible bacteria. I didn't think rubbing some soap into a lather on his head was the best idea when the cuts were so fresh. :o)

Anyway, his head healed beautifully and there is not one trace of injury anywhere! I couldn't believe it!

More "Christmas" Than "Performance"

December 6, 2009 was Eric's first Christmas performance with his Sunday School class. We had been practicing and practicing the songs every time we rode in the car. And as the day drew closer, he even told me he was excited about going up on the stage and singing in church.

Well, the day came, and the excitement evaporated! He made his way onto the stage, let the leaders place him wherever, then stuck his hands in his pockets and called it a day! I was in the front desperately trying to get a crack of a smile out of him for memory's sake, but 'twas all in vain.

One of the leaders came up to me afterward and said, "At least he knows how to look cool!" And he did; he looked so handsome. In the end, I was just glad he did look cute and was thankful for how tall he is -- makes it much easier to spot him and take pictures.

His "you're gonna pay for this" face.

As close as he came to smiling.

The whole crew.

Oh Man, Snowman!

It finally snowed enough {with the right kinda snow} for us to make a very successful snowman! It was Eric's first time and was a huge help to me, in between his occasional spastic flops in the snow!

And because I know building a snowman is a large feat, I'm not usually so motivated to start the creation of one, but this year I had "won" a snowman kit at a white elephant gift exchange. It had everything we needed in it: buttons for his "shirt", smaller black dots for his eyes and smile, carrot nose, pipe, scarf, and hat!


What also came in very handy was the large decorative rock we have in our front yard. Saved us the trouble of creating the "plus-sized" bottom our snowman is sitting on. We just packed snow all around it and no one knows the difference!