Madeline's Made-From-Scratch Cake!

This morning, while I made pancakes, Madeline started asking for all sorts of ingredients of her own. It was Ladybug, Snowflake and Banjo's birthdays -- Madeline wanted to make a cake for three of the special stuffed animals in our house.

Eggs, milk, baking powder, butter, sugar, flour... Whatever she asked for, I obliged. Together, we poured the concoction into a soufflé dish, and put it in the oven. I could not believe the perfect dish that came out of the oven. And by the time I got out of the shower, she had scrounged up icing, sprinkles and chocolate chips all by herself.

Can you believe it was honestly delicious? Since then, she's baked several more things from scratch without a recipe, including home baked bread. But she's also checked several cook books out from the school library and we've been having a lot of fun.

Madeline loves to bake, and she's good at it!

Thoughts on Life with Three.....

Having three kids that are aged 6, 4 and 2 means finding Tinker Toys in the fridge when you're looking for cheese. It means Spider-man taped to the wall, Lego's in my boots and cell phones that go missing for weeks. It means there's usually a mystery turd somewhere....you just hope it's in the toilet. It means five of us squeezed around our three-person kitchen table because the dining room has been transformed into a solar system. It means so. very. little. sleep. It means Children's Tylenol flows like wine, and there's probably some amoxicillin in the refrigerator at any given time. A "wild" Friday night is a mean round of Duck Duck Goose with a stark naked two year old, running and jiggling his stuff with glee. It means stickers on the floor, pencil on the walls, and an entire house level decorated in orange marker. It means walking into the living room at night to sit down for the first time since 5:45am and finding a cob of corn on the floor.

God, I love it. I hope it never ends.

The Grandfather Clock

There is an antique Swedish clock in our entry way. To John John, it's the best hiding place in the world. Where the door swings open to adjust the pendulums, John has found a repository for all sorts of treasures. The last time I saw him make a deposit, I ran for my camera. Here are a few that had accumulated since the last check:

• Mini basketball
• Brand new pair of Madeline's pink Converse shoes (we had been looking for these for months!)
• Charlie's missing rain boot
• Extension cord
• iPhone charger
• Tutu
• Blue matchbox car
• Sports thermos
• Candy from a birthday party
• Firetruck
• Firefighter

So That's a Boy Tea Party for You...

Today Charlie wanted to have a tea party! He saw all the tea cups I have on the kitchen counter as I start planning Madeline's 7th birthday. What a hoot! After years and years of girly tea parties with Mimi, I got to enjoy a whole different interpretation with my boy. A boy tea party.

Charlie chose honey camomile tea. It all started above board. We talked in a British accent and kept asking each other for a "spot of tea" after we took a couple of sips...our cups were perpetually full. I asked him to tell me all his favorite colors, about his morning at school, and to tell me everything he knows about dinosaurs. Pretty soon, he was telling me about the poop exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum, informing me of certain strange rhino rituals. Then there was some bubble blowing in his bone china tea cup. Giggle fest. Burping and ridiculously loud tooting. Outright laughing as he blurted out random words and phrases like "oxygen!" and "dinosaurs have nostrils!"

So that's a boy tea party for you.