Wordless Wednesday 9: Birthday Bear

Lil man's grandma, or "Abu", surprised him with a brand-new bear for his 4th birthday. Since it was a Star Wars bear, he appropriately named him "Han Solo". But the store was out of the Han Solo outfit, so we dressed him in a birthday party outfit, just in time for his birthday party. The Han Solo outfit will arrive in the mail soon, we hope!

[caption id="attachment_501" align="aligncenter" width="461" caption="Lil man and Han Solo"][/caption]

If you have a Wordless Wednesday post, link it here for others to see!

Here's the fun thumbnail linky:



Thanks to Resourceful Mommy and 5 Minutes for Mom for introducing me to Wordless Wednesday.
Thanks to Uisce for creating Wordless Wednesday.

Tackle it Tuesday 4: Mega Birthday Weekend!

Last week was lil man's 4th birthday, and we had not one but TWO parties for him. First one was last Thursday at school, where we sang Happy Birthday with his classmates, and the second one was on Sunday at home with the entire family.

I had several tackles related to this mega birthday weekend:

1. Create TWO birthday cakes (or in this case, cupcake displays) using lil man's selected theme: Hot Wheels.


2. Assemble the goodie bags for his 23 classmates and 8 cousins.


3. Make some of the appetizers. Thankfully, my Mom helped by also making some.


4. Get the house ready for the birthday. This included getting all the crap out of the way, and putting up all the decorations. Thankfully, hubs helped me with this.

It was all worth it, though. Lil man had a great time, and that's all that matters.

[caption id="attachment_484" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Cupcake display for lil man's classroom"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_483" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Singing Happy Bday with his classmates"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_486" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Cupcake display for the family party"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_485" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Singing Happy Bday with his cousins"][/caption]

Now I'm going to have to tackle the toy situation in the living room/play area!

[caption id="attachment_487" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Living room / play area disaster!"][/caption]

If you have a Tackle it Tuesday post, link it here for others to see!



Thanks to the ladies at 5 Minutes for Mom for creating Tackle it Tuesday!

Wordless Wednesday 8: Birthday Memories

My lil man turns 4 tomorrow, so I decided to relive his past birthdays. Boy, they grow fast, don't they?

[caption id="attachment_473" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lil man's 1st Birthday Party"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_474" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lil man's 2nd Birthday party"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_475" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lil man's 3rd Birthday party"][/caption]

If you have a Wordless Wednesday post, link it here for others to see!

Here's the fun thumbnail linky:



Thanks to Resourceful Mommy and 5 Minutes for Mom for introducing me to Wordless Wednesday.
Thanks to Uisce for creating Wordless Wednesday.

Tackle it Tuesday 3: Homework

Lil man is in Pre-K and already gets daily homework assignments. Most of them are simple enough, color this, trace that, but sometimes he gets more "advanced" tasks, like the one he had last week.

He was supposed to look up in newspapers or magazines the letters that make up his name, then cut them and paste them into the homework sheet.

When doing homework, I always try to help him as little as possible, only sitting beside him to give him instructions and make sure he's grabbing the crayons or scissors correctly. In this case, I decided to have a little fun and dropped several newspapers on the floor for him to dig through. At first, he was a bit hesitant to touch "daddy's paper", but I assured him that daddy had said it was OK - actually he had no idea, but I tried to salvage as much of the current day's paper as possible! :)

We had so much fun going through pages and pages of newspaper, noticing all the pictures, letters, and colors, and he selected the letters he liked the most. He cut them all up himself and used the glue stick to paste them to the sheet. Take a look at the madness fun time, and the final product. Pretty good, huh? Well, I'm biased. :)

[caption id="attachment_456" align="aligncenter" width="314" caption="He even brought 2 of his stuffed animals to help!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_457" align="aligncenter" width="419" caption="He was having so much fun!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_455" align="aligncenter" width="314" caption="It's the little things that we celebrate the most"][/caption]

If you have a Tackle it Tuesday post, link it here for others to see!



Thanks to the ladies at 5 Minutes for Mom for creating Tackle it Tuesday!

How to jazz up your store-bought, allergy-free treats

A few days ago I was tweeting with @MiscarriageMom about our kids' upcoming birthdays - her daughter turns 4 on October 20th, and my lil man also turns 4 on the 21st, just one day apart, awesome! So I was telling her about how I was taking cupcakes to his classroom and singing Happy Birthday with his classmates, and she mentioned that at her school, they're not allowed to bring any homemade treats because of allergy issues. I thought that was ridiculous! Not the allergy part, that seems reasonable, but the part where you can't actually MAKE anything - everything has to be store-bought!

So we tweeted back and forth with ideas, and finally I came up with an alternative that I THINK is allergy-free: Rice Krispies Treats!

OK, so the individual squares that come in a box don't look very appealing, but there's a way you can jazz them up and make them party-ready.

Here's what you will need:

• Ready-made Rice Krispies Treat squares


• Can of cake frosting - I like the "whipped" version because it resembles the consistency of homemade frosting


• Sprinkles - any kind


• Plastic food bag or piping bag (I used a piping bag)


• Optional: star tip (any size - I used the giant star tip)

 

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="What you will need"][/caption]

First, open all your individual packets and lay them out on a platter or serving dish, making sure it fits the amount of squares that you will need. Optionally, you can also serve them in individual paper liners.

Using scissors, make a small cut on a bottom corner of the plastic bag or piping bag. If you're using a tip, insert it and make sure it fits snugly through the hole. Fill the bag with the frosting, making sure to press it down so there are no air bubbles.

Using a circular motion starting from the outside in, pipe the frosting on each square.

Finally, to make them look more interesting and festive, add any sprinkles you like!

 Don't they look cute? Much better than the plain-old foil-lined squares in a box, right?

Alternatives:

• If you can make your own, try molding them into cupcake tins to make them look like cupcakes. Or use cookie cutters to make fun shapes!


• Use canned whipped cream! Just shake & pipe. I've also seen some frostings that come in the same type of can as whipped cream - I bet those would be fun too!


• Dip them in chocolate! Melt equal parts chocolate chips and heavy cream in a double boiler (place them in a glass bowl over boiling water) until it's completely smooth, and then dip the treats. Lay them in parchment paper until they're set. You can even dip them in sprinkles or nuts before they set!

Do you have any other ideas for store-bought, allergy-free treats to take to school? Give us your suggestions below!

Mickey's Rockin' Road Show

All who know me know that I'm a huge Disney fan ever since my Cast Member days. Thankfully, it has rubbed off on lil man; still not sure if hubs simply tolerates it because he loves me. :)

Anyway, every time there's a Disney show, whether it's Disney on Ice, or any other, I try my best to be there. This time for Mickey's Rockin' Road Show, I was lucky enough to score Arena tickets on the 11th row, center isle. The seats were awesome, and we had a great view of the show and all the characters. Saying that lil man had a blast is a huge understatement.

[caption id="attachment_373" align="aligncenter" width="224" caption="Lil man with his new Mickey toy"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_374" align="aligncenter" width="224" caption="Hanging around with "Abu""][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_375" align="aligncenter" width="224" caption="Having a great time with my fave lil guy!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_376" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The show was great for the kids... oh yeah, me too"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_372" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Grand finale. Bravo!"][/caption]

Wordless Wednesday 7: Self-Portrait

So this is what happens when I can't find my camera!

If you have a Wordless Wednesday post, link it here for others to see!

Here's the fun thumbnail linky:



Thanks to Resourceful Mommy and 5 Minutes for Mom for introducing me to Wordless Wednesday.
Thanks to Uisce for creating Wordless Wednesday.

Overwhelmed - an open letter to a dear friend

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="164" caption="Image courtesy of www.jane-finch.com"][/caption]

A few days ago, I learned that a dear friend was having a hard time struggling with her daily demands: mom, wife, business owner, homeowner. This letter is for her and everyone else out there who feels the same way:

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear you're having a hard time. Your message struck me because I've been going through the same thing.

I've been feeling pretty overwhelmed too lately, and it's because of so many changes that have been going on in the past few years. You see, before lil man was born, I used to work full time at a Pharmaceutical company. You know how it is, the suit, the commute, the long hours in the office - on a normal weekday I could be at the office 10 hours a day! On top of that, I used to sing in not one but 2 choirs, so add to that all the rehearsal time several nights a week, plus concerts, etc.

When lil man was born, I requested to work from home more often. Since I report to Headquarters in the US and don't really need to be at the office to do my job, they didn't mind me working from home. Everything was fine until I had a miscarriage at the end of 2008. My life, and my body, changed completely. The whole 2009 was horrible for me, the depression, the hypothyroidism, the weight gain - I've always been overweight, but I gained about 40lbs! By this time last year, I was up to 210lbs, the same weight that I was when I was 9 months preggers, yikes!

Thankfully, I'm on meds now and have my hypothyroidism in check, also going to therapy, cause, you know, *cuckoo* {circling my ear with my finger}.

One of the things that helped me last year was baking. I started taking classes strictly as a hobby, but somehow it grew into a business... who knew? So now I have way too many things that I do AT THE SAME TIME:

1. My full-time job. I work mostly from home, but still have to conform to regular office hours and attend many, many conference calls, yuck!


2. Mom. Lil man is at school now and I have to pick him up at 2pm every day. From that point on, I'm a full-time mom, doing the whole homework, dinner, playtime thing. DURING business hours, when I'm supposed to be working! I get a little break when the physical and speech therapists come by to work with him, but still, it's not the same.


3. The bakery. Every time I get more and more orders, and I have to figure out WHEN to bake! Usually it's whenever I find free time, which is never, but I do a little bit in the mornings (during business hours!) or in the afternoons (during business AND mom hours!), or at night (during hubs and me hours! see below...)


4. Hubs. Did I mention I have a husband? Yeah, sometimes I forget too. I usually spend a little bit of time with him and lil man just before he goes to bed, or after that we sit down and watch TV together. That is, unless I have to bake, then it's no hubs!


5. Sleep. My shrink, my neurologist, and my endocrinologist gave me strict orders to sleep 8 hours a day. BAHAHA!! Sorry, it's just that it makes me laugh every time. Yeah, I understand that I need to refuel to keep my thyroid in check and not feel tired during the day, but I NEVER manage to get in bed before midnight, and I have to get up every day at 6am to take lil man to school, so... yeah, it doesn't add up to me either.


6. Exercise. My nutritionist gave me strict orders (yeah, more strict orders!) to exercise at least 5 days a week. BAHAHA!! Oops, sorry, that wasn't an actual joke. But did you read points 1-5 above? How on earth am I going to take time to exercise? I mean, last time I checked, the day only had 24 hours, and I'm already doing 2-3 things at the same time most of the time! I mean, I ran out of time at point 3 - points 4 and 5 are already being compromised. I have no idea how I'm going to do this.

Then there's my original hobby, singing. I had to leave one of the choirs last year in the height of my depression, so I'm down to 1 choir, which is strictly weddings and special occassions. It's good because it doesn't take up a lot of my time and I still get to sing, but not as much as I would like to.

So that's basically what my life is like now. Most of the time I'm running full speed ahead, but sometimes I get overwhelmed and start thinking: "how the hell am I going to do all this, and do it RIGHT?" I guess I still haven't found the answer to that question.

I'm not telling you this so that you feel sorry for me, or to downplay your feelings. I guess in a way I'm glad you feel the same way I do, so that if you ever receive a tweet from me with an "AAAAARRRGGHH", you will know exactly what I'm talking about, and I'll know too if you do the same.

For now all I can tell you is hang in there. No, it will not get better, in fact, it will get more complicated as the kids get older, but at least you know you have a friendly ear many miles away, and at the same time, just a click away.

Lots of love,
Zelma

Tropical Fashion Faux Pas?

For those of you who don't know, Puerto Rico doesn't really have seasons. We get 75-85 degrees F during the "winter", or at least from mid-December to February, and the rest of the year we get 85-95 degrees F. However, from June to November it's Hurricane season, which can get really intense from August to October. Actual Hurricanes are very rare here, but we do get many Tropical Depressions, Waves, and general low pressure activity, which means tons and tons of rain!

For example, in the past 2 weeks we've had like 3 different Storms, Depressions and Waves pass close to us, and that has meant rain, rain, rain! Take a look at some pics I took from my car:

[caption id="attachment_399" align="aligncenter" width="224" caption="This was taken yesterday afternoon on my way to Mom's house. That's hubs' car in front!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_400" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="This was taken this morning driving down my street"][/caption]

Now, all this rain doesn't mean that it's cold, but it does lower the temperature SLIGHTLY, let's say about 5-10 degrees F. This means that people will still wear shorts and sandals even though it's pouring outside.

It's been raining so much lately and I was tired of getting my feet wet every time I stepped out of the house, so this morning I got fed up and decided to cover myself up. I put on long leggings (which I rarely use) and my "winter" booties that I only wear about once or twice a year. They looked super cute and comfy, at least in my opinion.

[caption id="attachment_398" align="aligncenter" width="223" caption="Cute booties or just wrong?"][/caption]

Don't worry, I didn't go overboard with my wardrobe, I wore a short-sleeve tunic over that, because let's face it, it wasn't really cold, just wet.

So I took lil man to school dressed like that. I was so happy and comfy because I didn't have to worry about the rain, or stepping in the water. However, when I walked back to the car, I began to notice all the moms looking at me. At first I didn't know what was going on, because I had forgotten what I was wearing, but as I kept walking I noticed one of them was actually looking at my shoes! I looked around, and sure enough, all the moms had their umbrellas out, but were still wearing shorts and sandals! For a slight moment, I felt super ridiculous. Apparently I had committed a fashion faux pas and I hadn't even realized it. Are we allowed to wear boots in the Caribbean? Maybe if I had worn jeans and sneakers I wouldn't have looked so out of place.

Then again, I'm not a jeans and sneakers kind of gal.

What do you think is most important: fashion, comfort, or blending in, even if it means getting my feet wet? Sound off below!

UPDATE: Upon reading my post, I received this comment on Twitter from a fellow Puertorrican. I think it proves just how wrong I was! LOL

RT @JeanessaPR: @zelmarl hahahaha. Love the boots but to me it´s a bit shocking to wear them in broad daylight. But I sure wear them, cute!

Wordless Wednesday 6: Blue tongue

These are the consequences of helping his mom when she's preparing dark buttercream icing. For the record, I don't think he minded, ha! :)

[caption id="attachment_384" align="aligncenter" width="472" caption="Blue tongue!"][/caption]

If you have a Wordless Wednesday post, link it here for others to see!

Here's the fun thumbnail linky:



Thanks to Resourceful Mommy and 5 Minutes for Mom for introducing me to Wordless Wednesday.
Thanks to Uisce for creating Wordless Wednesday.

Zelma's Bakery: October's featured cupcakes

OK, so I live in Puerto Rico and we don't really have Fall, or any season other than Summer for that matter. That doesn't mean I can't get inspired by the flavors of Fall. I might eat them with hot cocoa and a warm sweater, but then again, I might melt and people will surely call me crazy. :)

Take a look at the cupcakes I have featured for the month of October:

Almond Chocolate Cupcakes:

These yummy cupcakes are almond-flavored with chopped toasted almonds. With double-chocolate buttercream icing and topped with chopped toasted almonds.

I think the almond taste is very subtle, and the chopped almonds give it a great crunch. The icing is super chocolatey!

Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes:

These cupcakes are apple-cinnamon-flavored with chopped walnuts and raisins. Filled with cinnamon-sugar-cream-cheese filling. With vanilla buttercream icing and topped with chopped walnuts.

I would categorize these more like muffins than cupcakes, and the filling is the awesomest I have ever tasted!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes:

These cupcakes are peanut-butter-flavored. With double-chocolate buttercream icing and topped with chopped peanuts.

Everyone who likes peanut butter cups will surely love these. Even my husband liked them, and he doesn't like peanut butter!

Zelma's Halloween Cupcake Box:

Happy Halloween! These festive cupcakes are vanilla-flavored with orange and black jimmies. With vanilla buttercream icing in orange and black colors and topped with a halloween-themed decoration in fondant. Includes a variety of decorations: pumpkin, ghost, bat, and witch's hat.

These have to be the cutest cupcakes I've made so far, if I do say so myself. They're so friggin' cute, my lil man started screaming when he saw them!



Unfortunately, these are only available in Puerto Rico. If I try to ship them, no matter how careful I am, the frosting will get smushed, and that's definitely NOT good eats!