Nihao, Cupcake!

My Big Blue Marble Pen Pal

Remember a time when making friends from far away meant putting pen to paper, a trip to the post office and lots of waiting time between correspondence? There was no such thing as email, Skype, message boards or forums. Heck, there was no such thing as the internet! Wow, have things changed. I'm feeling ancient just writing that.

Well, way back then, in the technology dark ages, I wrote away to the TV show The Big Blue Marble for a pen pal! I wrote to the girl they matched me with for more than a decade but eventually we lost touch.

But tonight, she found me through Facebook! How amazingly cool is that?! I have no idea when we originally found each other, but I do know we originally found each other all because of that show. (edited to read: Apparently she is the one with the better memory - she just told me via FB that we were 10 when we started writing.)

Here's the show's intro from YouTube:

 

And the lyrics to the theme song:

The earth's a big blue marble when you see it from out there . . .
Closer, getting closer, perspectives start to change. Things look a little strange, as we get closer.
Closer, growing closer, no need to be afraid our troubles start to fade, as we get closer.
Together is a word we must learn to understand, if we ever want to get to know each other better.
Together is a word that holds tomorrow in it's hand, tomorrow's just another day to get together, and...

Get closer, closer, closer…

Such a great message. It was back then and still is today.

Back to my story...

Andrea and I started writing to each other probably sometime in elementary school and we wrote back and forth all through high school until we were able to meet the summer after I graduated from high school.

It is horrible because right now I can't remember which state she was from. I want to say New Jersey or some where in the North East. I know I used to have her address memorized but my brain is over stuffed with other things like kids, Mandarin Chinese, husband's travel schedule, recipes, etc, etc that it has been pushed out the bottom (it has nothing to do with old age - my brain is just getting full).

Anyway, that summer one of my best friends and I drove my little green VW bug up to Northern California. We met up with Andrea, my pen pal, in San Francisco at the Esprit outlet! How 80's is that?! I was scared to death to drive in San Francisco with all the really steep hills (my car was a stick shift!) and funky lane changes - so different than the suburbs (I was only 17) - but somehow we made it.

Andrea and I continued to write back and forth over the years but then eventually lost touch likely sometime in our mid-20s? I'll have to see if she has better recollection than I do. And now, out of the BLUE tonight while I am sitting at my computer, I get a Facebook email from none-other-than her! I cannot believe that it never occured to me to look for her on Facebook. I was beyond excited! We exchanged a few emails before she had to get offline to pack up her stuff to run off to her job in Iraq of all places! She spends one month in Colorado (near my Dad's hometown & favorite places in the whole wide world) and two months in Iraq.

I think it is quite a coincidence that we are both abroad. I suppose if we were both curious enough about people in other places that we would write to a TV show called Big Blue Marble, it is no surprise we are out exploring that big blue marble as adults!

I cannot wait to go home this summer and start digging through my old photos and my memorabilia boxes to find pictures of us in San Francisco as well as bags of her letters I know I have saved! Of course, it is no surprise that I saved every one, is it?!

So, I am sorry, readers, you will have to wait a few more months to see photos of me, dressed in a bright yellow mini-dress, and my penpal, dressed in a blue v-neck sweater, standing in front of the San Francisco Esprit outlet on a beautiful but windy day.

How about you? Any fond memories of a childhood pen pal?

My Moments In-between

In the past day or two I came upon this blog entry on the Be More With Less website. I'd never heard of it before until Ali Edwards posted about it the other day. I get her feed on Facebook and was intrigued enough by the first few lines to click over to the article.

It's a classic theme that is revisited often, but that does not diminish its power.

We are more than our accomplishments.

We are made up of those Moments In-between. If you haven't already read the article by Courtney Carver, I encourage you to click over and have a read. It is most definitely worth it. She inspired me to make my own list of Moments In-between. And who knows, I just may make it a repeat feature on the blog. What a wonderful way to collect random memories. And of course, my list is just waiting to be made into a scrapbook page!

 

MY LIST OF 'MOMENTS IN-BETWEEN' (April 4, 2011)

*recording the Brady Bunch episode where they sang all those songs on my handheld tape player. Then while my dad slept in our blue VW van through a huge rainstorm while we were visiting his hometown of Durango, Colo., my brother and I wrote out all the words and memorized them to pass the time.

*stopping at A&W Rootbeer for a rootbeer float on those long, hot drives from California to Colorado every other summer with my dad.

*'McDonald's night' at home when my mom would make hamburgers and french fries.

*holding my dad's hand for safety when walking through cities that scared me. I was a suburban girl, so as a child, cities frightened me!

*knowing that from the time he could walk, every time I would squat down and hold out my arms, Braden would run into my arms - every.single.time.

*making fun & creative birthday cakes and cupcakes based on the requests and collaboration of my kids.

*my cat, Yuki-chan, jumping into my arms when I would tap on my chest.

*finding Yuki-chan as a tiny stray kitten and getting to keep her which fulfilled a longtime childhood dream.

*traveling overland from China into Tibet (with my husband & best friend) only to find out after the fact, that it was a dream of my father's to take that same path.

*glowing with pride & being truly amazed at the writing skills of my oldest son.

*baking and cooking with my middle son.

*bringing my cat, Tulus, with me to my Grandma's house - a six hour drive!

*learning to speak Japanese while chatting over green tea (Uji cha) with one of my dearest friends, Yukiko. She with her English dictionary and me with my Japanese dictionary.

*giving kisses to my boys even if they wipe them off immediately afterwards.

*the London flyer ride & tea and crumpets at the Orangery at Kensington Palace with my husband & best friend.

*the best English tea ever at Pendley Manor, Tring.

*staying at a London farm house in the countryside and being fed all the traditional meals, including rich desserts smothered in cream or custard and then retiring to the sitting room for truffles and coffee every night, the gorgeous countryside, walks through the area trailed by our German Sheperd companion

*inheriting my sense of humor & silliness from my dad. (There's not enough silliness & fun in the world!)

What are your Moments Inbetween? Why not use this as a prompt for journaling on a scrapbook page or a blog post. Let me know if you are inspired to do that and link me to your blog. I'd love to read about your Moments Inbetween.

Wuzhen, China & My Pursuit of Photography

I went to Wuzhen, China for a photography workshop. It was a chance for me to get out of Beijing, have a break from motherhood in between two weeks of my husband being out of town, but most importantly to try out my newfound photography skills that I have been working on the past nine or ten months.

I can't say that my results were all disappointing. If I compare the results from this weekend to the very first weekend photography workshop I took last year, I'd definitely say there was improvement. But, I also cannot say that I was as pleased with my results as I was hoping.

The good news is that I saw a glimpse of my own personal style. One that I like. The other good news was that I now know what I need to do next to take my photography to the next level. The part I find frustrating is that I think I already knew what I need to do to improve before I even went on the weekend.

Hearing it from someone else made it that much clearer, though. It also helped me decide that I need to stop pussyfooting around and get serious. I need to find a story that is important to me and tell it in photographs. I need to get permission to be somewhere and then concentrate on my photography rather than worry about how much longer I should stick around the random person before I feel uncomfortable and bolt.

You see most of my practice has been wandering around Beijing with a friend(s) looking for people or things to photograph. You see, for a shy person like me, even in a place as friendly as Beijing is to a caucasian woman with a camera, this can be intimidating and nervracking. It's 90% all my own hang-ups and I know this, but it is still a huge challenge. One I have made progress on, but still is always hanging over my head while I shoot in these situations. Very likely, preventing me from relaxing and most importantly THINKING while I click away.

Since I've recieved this feedback, there's been a switch with in me. I'm not sure what it is and only time will actually tell if it is a permanent change. So far it feels different.

The other positive thing about getting that feedback on my individual photographs was that I knew he was right! I had told myself those same things in many an internal conversation. Problem was, I also convinced myself of the opposite and sometimes an outside party would agree.

Without hearing it from someone with professional credibility, I didn't know which side to believe. Now I do.

Som of my other photos are 'good,' per se. Nicely framed, in focus, reasonable lighting, most often an interesting subject, but beyond that - ho hum! Now these are my words, not his. But let's be honest! The thing I love about photography is those magical photos. Those perfect photos that are more than just a snapshot. That are even more than just a good image. Those complex images that take more than just luck. That is what I want to be able to achieve. I have a good foundation, but I am not there yet.

And as disappointing as that is to make that realization. If I were already there, then the goal wouldn't be as compelling. It would be far too easy to achieve. So I continue.

Many of the photos I have liked over the past few months, I have been pleased with because they had achieved something I wasn't able to do before. They were one small step in the right direction. There are still huge flaws with those photos, but they are the ones that mark improvement.

Sometimes it is easy to get stuck on the glory of those small accomplishments and forget that I still have a long way to go.

I have a lot more to say on this topic. But, for now I will let you check out the photos from the weekend I've selected to share. Pursuing photography is a long process. Whether or not I ever make it my profession or if I just pursue the ultimate photograph in my free time, it is something I want to do.

More Cupcakes to help Japan

Braden's school is having a 3 day bake sale to raise money to help the victims in Japan. Not only have we been busily making and decorating cupcakes over the past two days, but we stopped by the sale on the way out of school to indulge in a few treats. Here Braden poses by the sign.

Last night I made big ladybugs (ladybirds), grass with ladybugs & monkeys. I chose these because they are cute and not too difficult to make. And I could make them with things I had around the house.

A close-up of one of the monkeys. He is made out of one medium sized cookie with the top 1/4 cut off, one small cookie/biscuit/cracker with the two sides cut off and used for the ears, two chocolate chips for eyes, black decorating gel for the nostrils and red icing for the mouth. 

Here is a close up of the ladybugs on the grass. They are simply red M&Ms decorated with chocolate frosting. I put the frosting in a ziploc sandwich bag and cut a very small hole in the corder and just drew on the details. So simple! The larger ladybugs' details are made with chocolate frosting but the hole in the sandwich bag is a little larger to get a thicker line down the middle of the back as well as the nice plump spots on the back.

We Love Japan Cupcakes

Braden's school is having a bake sale this week to raise money to help the victims in the tsunami & earthquake that ravished Japan this month. Braden picked out this style from my What's New Cupcake? book. We changed the words on the conversation hearts to match the spirit.

The cupcakes either say JAPAN, LOVE, We love Japan or We {HEART} Japan.

Don't forget to send a donation to the Red Cross to help out Japan!

Chinese New Year Jiaozi

IMG_0010.jpg, originally uploaded by Xnomads.

Braden made these at school out of playdough. Jiaozi (dumplings) is the traditional food eaten on New Year's Day in China. I just love all of the arts and crafts they do at his school each month. This month most all the crafts were related to the holiday. In addition to these, they made red lanterns, hangings with the Chinese character for rabbit (this year is the year of the rabbit) and firecracker banners out of toilet paper rolls. I can't wait until they all come home.

Valentine Cookies

IMG_9037.jpg, originally uploaded by Xnomads.

I was so impressed with Reece. I made some Valentine sugar cookies just for him. They are his favorite and I meant to make them at Christmas but never got around to it. It was late in the day and I was proud of myself just for getting these made for my family. Reece, on the other hand, was set on decorating them and giving them out to his friends. He insisted. He did everything, including instant hand delivery!

I love this kid even if he does need a haircut!

Bicycle Built for Two & Three

IMG_8947.jpg, originally uploaded by Xnomads.

We had a fun day renting these bicycles and riding around the frozen lake covered with snow. Our original plan was to ride on the ice chairs and one of the kids wanted to rent an ice bicycle, but the ice was covered in snow and apparently all the ice chairs and bikes had been put away!

The ride was a little challenging because neither had working brakes, there was lots of snow and ice and on the narrow streets near the lake, there are tons of cars, motorbikes, rickshaws and pedestrians who don't follow any traffic laws. We made it around safely and even had time to stop for a hot cocoa to warm up.

First Lost Tooth (Simple Thing)

IMG_7262.jpg, originally uploaded by Xnomads. (photo taken by Nicholas, 10 years old)

Only a couple weeks after turning six, his very first tooth fell out! The tooth fairy came and left 10 kuai under his pillow. So exciting. Amazing how a simple thing like losing a tiny little tooth can be so exciting and yet bittersweet at the same time. I am excited for my son, but a little sad since this is my very last, 'first lost tooth'!

  

I LOVE THIS IDEA

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm thinking about starting a monthly 'linky' (meaning I will put a link at the bottom of the post where you can link up with a thumbnail of your photo which is posted on your blog) for the Family Photo x 12 idea. Check out my post here. Tara Whitney, a photographer in Orange County, California, who I have been a fan of for a number of years, did this with her family in 2010. She committed to taking one family photo, including all six members (nobody missing!) per month for the entire year. I love this idea and am doing it with my family this year. Our first two photos of the year are in the post mentioned above.

If you are interested in joining me, leave me a comment and if enough people are interested, I'll do the monthly linky here on the 5th of every month.

You can start any time you want. The important thing is that you take a photo of your whole family once a month.

LOTS GOING ON AT THE BLOG!

I have been so busy with this blog lately!

I have been posting a layout every day for LOAD (the Layout A Day challenge).

If any of you remember the blog hop on February 1st, I chose a give-a-way winner, but never posted a photo of the prize. Well, after lots of shopping during the New Year excitement over the last 10 days, I finally have the care package ready and I will be sending it off on Monday. A Photo of the goodies, coming soon.

I've been doing pretty good posting my Project Life (365 Photos) photos every Tuesday. I started three weeks ago and have yet to miss a week.

And on March 1st there will be a second One Little Word blog hop starting right HERE at my blog. So, plan to come back and be inspired by the students in Ali Edwards' class over at Big Picture Classes. I'll have a give-a-way too. A mini-kit of American Crafts Valentine line from 2009 (I think) - it will include patterned papers, ribbon, Thickers shapes, adhesive buttons/badges, and chipboard shapes. Perfect for those Valentine photos!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hug

It's not officially a 'sorry' without a hug! (Nicholas, age 10)

One of the Coolest Ideas Ever... (Embrace the Camera)

I love photography. One of the portrait photographers I like to check in on often is Tara Whitney based out of Orange County. I've always imagined getting her to take our family's photos someday since our home base is Los Angeles which is not too far away from OC.

The last time I checked in on her blog, I saw this: 6 People 12 Times. Very cool idea. She took one family photo per month during 2010. So, of course, when I see a great idea that is simple enough to replicate, I jump on the bandwagon.

I almost forgot to do it in January despite numerous alerts on my computer's calendar. Even though January was over in Beijing, I figured I'm originally from the US, and I've been to Hawaii before, so if is still January in Hawaii, the photo counts, right?

Here's our January photo:

We simply sat on the couch and used the self-timer. The lighting in our living room isn't the greatest - it gives everyone racoon eyes. But I still love the photo. Everyone looks like themselves.

Here is our February photo:

I reserve the right to take another one in place of this photo. I love the location (we were at a temple fair in Beijing during all the New Years celebrations). I love what Braden is wearing (traditional New Years attire for young children). I just hate the lighting and that we are not in focus and that the person who took the photo for me zoomed out when I asked her not to. ARGH! I may be able to fix this one a little more in Photoshop or I may just decide to be happy with this one as is. Time will tell.

Let me know if you plan to take the ?(however many people in your family) x 12 challenge. I thought it would be fun to do a montly linky for this, but I'd only do it if there was some interest. Let me know what you think.

I think it will be great fun watching our whole family grow over the entire year. I think making a deliberate effort to take monthly photos together will be priceless, don't you?

Simple Things - Ice Chairs

This is about as simple as it gets! An ice chair that has seen better days, but it sure makes for a fun afternoon!

http://rebeccacooper.blogspot.com

Two friends and I go out once a week to take photographs around the city. This day we picked Houhai Lake which has been frozen over for the winter. We decided to rent ourselves some ice chairs and picks (used like ski poles) and explore the frozen lake.

These are my photography friends and an Australian friend visiting from Germany.

When you need a break from your ice chair, you can stop here and play ring toss. Perhaps you could win a prize. While I was taking photos, the money collecter came over and told me I couldn't take photos. Since living in China, my personality has completely changed. In English, I asked him why? Why not? I took another picture or two and he left. I then decided I wasn't getting very good pics anyway so I moved on. In China, if someone can't give me a good reason why I should or shouldn't do something, I just go forward with it (within reason). It's just the way you have to be here. So many people are uninformed and insist they have correct information when in fact, they do not. So, you learn more and more to trust your gut, and do what you want or need to do until you find otherwise.

These boys were amused by us. They followed us around the ice and loved when I took photos of them. The boy on the left could speak some English. In Chinese he told me the ring toss game wasn't any good. Later on he caught up with me again and told me in English that he was going to be in New York and DC over Spring Festival (next week) to play the flute with his school! Good for him! 

Who knew? A Cloakroom on ice! I'd never seen one of these before. Have you? Those white things are racks for your shoes. And you can see people sitting on benches in front of them putting on their ice skates.

Alright, so if you were unimpressed with the cloakroom on ice because you have seen them one too many times, I bet you have never seen a sheep robot that carries children in a rickshaw! Have you? I'd only wished that I caught a photo of one of these lovely things actually carrying a child. They seemed to be more popular over in the child section of the frozen lake. When I bring my kids back this week, I'll have to find one with a child in it or see if my youngest is small enough to take a ride! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity if ever there was one!

You do agree that these robots look like they should have a starring role in a horror film, don't you? We were pretty creeped out so we decided to take care of this one before she came back to haunt us in our dreams. Think Twighlight Zone where this thing keeps turning up in your hometown and follows you around Target, Walmart, the supermarket. Maybe she shows up at your son's soccer game, your daughter's basketball game, your husband's weekend cricket match. No matter where you go, she is there, coming towards you. You....CAN'T...GET...AWAY....

And then she invites her friends.....(that first one is Bono in Chinese ice robot form).

I'm not exactly sure what these guys were supposed to be doing. They just sat in the middle of the ice the whole time we were there. They each had a metal square can at their feet. Perhaps they were meant to go around the ice and collect trash? Either way, they didn't seem to mind our shenanigans. My friend slid me by them more than one time so I could get some closer up pictures.

Here's a pretty good one. This is the guy on the right.

Here's the guy on the left.

Here's a chain of ice chairs that passed us by. See how they place their feet on the ice chair in front of them to stay connected. This one had an ice bicycle in the front to propel them faster forward. This group looks as if they won a prize at the Ring Toss on Ice game.

Ah, back to our security guard/trash collector. He wasn't fazed at all when our friend posed with his imaginary friend, Bluce. Frankly, I think they are so bored that we added a little novelty to their day. I'm sure they were thinking, 'Those crazy waiguo ren (outside country people)!'

Here's a good shot of a guy having a great time on an ice bike.

Here's the poor person in charge of checking in and out the ice chairs. Notice the handheld computer used to swipe the card we had to purchase at the small wooden ticket booth at the entrance of the ice. So old fashioned, yet so modern.
It is very cold standing on ice all day. My toes took several hours to thaw. I wonder how long it takes his (her?) toes to thaw at the end of a long day of checking out ice chairs? What do you think?

 

OLW BLOG HOP - Feb 1

Don't forget to come back on February 1st. The ONE LITTLE WORD Blog Hop starts right here. We have 34 participants who will be sharing their One Little Word project for January.

ONE LITTLE WORD is a class over at BigPictureClasses.com and is taught by Ali Edwards.

Birthday Celebration, Making the Super Hero Cake & Some Awards!

We've been celebrating birthdays around here for the past week and a half. A week ago Saturday we finally had a tenth birthday party over two months late and then this past Saturday we began celebrating my youngest's sixth birthday. But birthdays don't seem to fit into just one day, they linger. I can't fit it all in one day. There's just too much to fit in. There's the friend party (usually on a weekend), there's the actual birthday, there's the celebration at school and then there are all the traditions you do every year that often spill over into other days if you can't squeeze them into the birthday. I think we have finally completed celebrating 6!

At our house the birthday child wakes to a decorated house (simple streamers and balloons and one Happy Birthday banner), a decorated chair in the kitchen and balloons strewn about the house, they also get to choose a sugar cereal (but this year Braden opted for homemade chocolate chocolate chip marshmallow waffles), they also get to choose a restaurant for dinner and then if their party is not on their birthday we have some kind of cake with candles and song on the actual day (often just leftover cupcakes) and finally I have to videotape their annual birthday interview. Someday, I plan to collect all of these and splice them together into one chronological video for each child. (I'm currently in the process of converting all of our analog video tapes (Hi8) to digital using the Canopus 110 so that this task will be easier.) Anyway, the point is... that is a lot of activity to squeeze into one day! This year our restaurant dinner went too late and we decided to order ice cream so the family cupcakes got pushed back to Tuesday since Monday night there was too much homework. So, cupcakes, candles, song and birthday interview were finally done last night and said six year old got to stay up later than normal just to get everything all complete.

I love doing it all, mind you! Love it! That is why we have so many traditions and why I make sure they all happen. It is interesting to type them all out because it isn't until then that I realize we have so many and wonder if maybe I go a little overboard. Maybe I do, but I'm OK with that!

So on to the birthday recap as well as a walk down memory lane of the past six years with our youngest child...

BRADEN IS SIX

Only a few days old. Spending time with his new big brothers.

Dad gives him a bath at Grandma's house.

Our gorgeous boy turns one. Mom made him a lion cake.

One of my very favorite photos of all time.

He has always loved sports. He spent hours in the backyard playing baseball.

With big brother, Nicholas

A family photo celebrating Braden's 3rd Birthday.

As soon as Braden could hold a crayon, he has loved to draw.

 And he has an affinity for cuddly animals.

From a photo shoot in his bedroom. He still loves pandas and his collection keeps growing.

On our visit to Hangzhou for Thanksgiving.

Playing dress up with one of his brothers. Batman and an alien super hero.

 

Super Braden...

Dressing up for Western night at his school. Food was Thanksgiving fare.

Blowing out his candles on his cupcakes last night.

Braden's 6th birthday interview:

What do you want to be when you grow up? A super hero whose super power is shooting tornadoes like Red Tornado

What is your favorite color? black, blue, red, green, orange

What is your favorite game? Checkers

What is your favorite TV show? Scooby Do Mystery, Inc.

What is your favorite book? Tin Tin

What is your favorite song? I don't know.

What is your favorite DVD or movie? I think it is Magic School Bus (received a DVD set for his birthday but hasn't yet completed one episode. We don't watch much TV around here.)

What is your favorite subject in school? Everything! (with a little prodding, he admited to Yoga, English and reading)

What do you like to do at recess? play games, especially freeze tag

Who is your best friend? Sean

Who is your favorite person? Nicholas and Mom (after a brief pause) and Sean!

Where is your favorite place? Grandma's house

What is your dream vacation? To go to Everything Island and Africa to see all of the wild animals.

What is your best memory of being 5? climbing up a rock wall

What is your favorite hobby? playing Wii, is that a hobby?

What is your favorite video game? Spore Hero

What is your favorite toy? Lego helicopter

What is your favorite food? ice cream - chocolate

What is your favorite dinner? cereal (all kinds), pancakes & waffles

What is your favorite restaurant? I don't have one

What is your favorite fruit? strawberries

 

NOW FOR MY FAVORITE PART OF ANY FAMILY BIRTHDAY - THE CAKE!

The birthday boy wanted a super hero cake just like the one for his 4th birthday. He sketched for me the few minor changes he wanted. I did my best to accomodate.

First we started off by making some accessories made from colored white chocolate. This is so much easier than it looks. I simply melted white chocolate chips for a minute or two in the microwave, added a bit of Wilton candy coloring (can be found at Michaels, Joanns or any craft or kitchen store), put it in a ziploc sandwich bag, cut the tip, spread out a sheet of waxed paper and then went to town. For the Super 'B' and the splat shapes, I sketched these out and then put them under the waxed paper and traced. The waxed paper sits on a small cookie sheet which I put in the fridge to harden. DONE!

Next we needed a skyline. I put these Graham crackers in the microwave for a few seconds to soften them a touch. I took a sharp knife and trimmed them into these shapes. I then melted some semi-sweet chocolate chips and dipped them so they were completely coated. I then took some of my yellow colored white chocolate in the same ziploc bag with tip cut off and drew on a bunch of windows.

We then took the chocolate covered Grahams with windows, coated the back with frosting (Since the decorating process is so time consuming, I no longer make my cake or frosting from scratch. My canned brand of choice is Duncan Hines. I never thought there was a difference until I did a taste test between Duncan Hines & Betty Crocker. DH won by a landslide. I think BC is hardly edible. I encourage you to do your own taste test. There IS a difference!) and then placed each building on the second layer of the red frosted cake.

Here is a close-up of the first two layers. You can see we added the Super 'B' on to the front of the cake and used the white chocolate (turned yellow) letters to spell out Happy Birthday on either side.

 
And here is the final cake. The birthday boy added all the action figures. It was entirely up to him how many to add and where they stood. Their legs are pretty thin for their bodies so we had to press their feet pretty far into the cake. I like the birthday child to have as much control over the design of their cake as reasonably possible.

We also a little accident with most of our chocolate art just as we were putting them on they fell to the floor and most shattered. Luckily the 'splat' signs survived mostly intact. Both lost a spike, but we used them anyway. Using melted chocolate, I adhered a popsicle stick to the back of each 'splat' so we could easily add them to the cake.


 And here is the back view. We made some star candy molds using Wilton molds that I found for $1 (on sale) at Michaels. Molding chocolate really couldn't be easier.

Such fun!

I'VE BEEN GIVEN A BLOG AWARD!

I just received a blog award today!
Thanks Rebekah (http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/) I'm honored!

There are a couple of conditions for the award:

You have been TAGGED and want to participate? Then create a post where you post the 'LOVE BLOG' image. You should also blog the person's link that gave you the award and inform her/him that you accept the award.You can then choose 3 - 5 favourite blogs which you also link in your post, then each blogger will inform you that they have been tagged.

Please choose any blogger that you feel deserves the award, but consider choosing fellow bloggers who have a good blog with a smaller readership (say less than two or three thousand followers) this will help bring less known good blogs to light by exposing them to more potential readers.
My recipients are welcome to chose whichever blogs they want regardless of the number of followers. It is just something to consider.

Now the hard part is choosing who to pass along the award to. As Rebekah pointed out on her blog, this award is a nice way of creating visibility to some of us who are followed less and/or just starting out.

Here are some of my favorite blogs that I think deserve this award:

Rachel B's World (rachelbsworld.blogspot.com)

Kiley @ Gogovivi.com

Lee @ Linar Studio (thelinarstudio.typepad.com/embracelife)

Danielle @ scrappindanielle.blogspot.com

Lisa @ Recklinghausen Musings (lisahausmann.blogspot.com)

Jill @ jillconyers.typepad.com

 Please hop on over to their blogs and check them out! You'll be happy you did.

Still to come... BEST SHOT WEDNESDAY.

 

Our Life in Photos - Project Life 2011

Last year I bought the Project Life kit designed by BeckyHiggins.com

I did really well with it until about late April when I started peetering out. I still took photos, but I stopped printing and eventually I stopped marking my POTDs (Photo of the Day). That is the label I use to keyword. But I certainly didn't stop taking pictures, in fact, I started taking more than I ever have in my life. I enrolled in a couple of photography courses at Beijing Center of Photography (beijingcp.com). I have plenty of photos to fill my album even if I didn't take one photo every day. My plan is to finish the year in weekly chunks. If it works to do one photo a day, then I will. If not, I will do seven photos for a week. I'm excited to include some of the photos I took as part of my classes.

I did not buy a kit this year, but so far I have taken a photo a day. And I am continuing to mark my photos POTD as the year goes on. I just love taking everyday photos. I love having my camera with me just about all the time. I have also started taking photos of the city around me and of people that aren't part of my family. I am dabbling a little in street photography. It is so much fun and a wonderful way to 'see' the city. And hopefully I am doing a small part to help capture this city as it is before it's all been leveled for more and more blocks of ugly shopping malls sans shoppers.

But I digress, this post is about my week in photos. I'm not sure exactly how I came across Project Life Tuesday today, but I did. And realized TODAY is Tuesday! So on a whim, I am participating this week. And maybe if the stars align and I stay enthused throughout the year, I'll put these wonderful photos in an album for 2011 (and post again on PLTues). But for now, this is just a recap of our past week in photos.

Sunday, January 16

How could I not take a photo of this set up? All of the mini figs are waiting in line for the bathroom! Braden was so excited to show me this little scene that he worked so hard to create.

Monday, January 17

The morning sun out our living room window. I tried to figure out how to open our dusty screens but to no avail. We live in a tall apt building so it is not up to me when the windows are cleaned. Not bad through a filthy window! You can see the China World (Guo Mao) building - tallest one in Beijing as well as the construction going on right outside our window. I watch those cranes all day. The operators are right at my eye level so I have to make sure my curtains are always closed when I am getting dressed in the morning! Our bedroom window faces this same direction. 

NOTE: To get the sun to look star-like, I closed my aperture down all all the way (highest f-stop, in this case f22) and increased my shutter speed until I got the silhouette look I wanted. The key here to get that star effect is to close down that aperture. If you are not comfortable shooting in manual, you can shoot in aperture priority. Thanks to Kiley over at Gogovivi.com for reminding me of this cool effect.

 

Tuesday, January 18

I was all about taking photos in front of this window this week! We moved our 'new' antique-ish table over to this window and we are loving it. Braden often eats his breakfast over here as he likes having a view. Notice he is eating our favorite so easy to peel and extremely delicious fresh Mandarin oranges, often called Cuties in California.

 

Wednesday, January 19

This is definitely reflection of this past week! I have been in the kitchen non-stop baking and cooking up a storm. This morning I was making scones for my book club friends. I had already made cinnamon rolls but was sure they wouldn't turn out. I thought I killed the yeast but I think I ended up adding too much butter to the filling and that made them dense and heavy. My first attempt at scones from scratch turned out really good, if I do say so myself. I got the recipe from my new cookbook, New Best Recipes Cookbook by Cooks Illustrated Magazine. I highly recommend it. Not a bad recipe from it yet! I also made two birthday cakes, a few dozen cupcakes (including lots of decorating), chocolate chocolate chip marshmallow waffles (birthday boy request), a batch of oatmeal raspberry scones and a few slow cooker meals.

 

Thursday, January 20

Here's this window and table again in the morning light! Paul at his laptop and Braden eating his breakfast in his PJs. And you can see our one houseplant that is surviving but never looks very good.

Friday, January 21

Braden didn't have school on Thursday or Friday due to parent teacher conferences. We were walking to Jenny Lou (an import market) to get some Crisco for some crescent roll hotdog snails we were planning to make later in the day and came upon this street seller. Amazing looking delicious strawberries for sale! Just what Braden wanted to serve his friends at his birthday party on Saturday. If we have time, we are going to turn them into mice by adding slivered almonds as ears, mini chocolate chips as eyes and think red licorice strings as tails. Braden kept asking me to have a strawberry, but I had to say no until we got home and I could wash them properly. That kids loves fruit more than candy!

Saturday, January 22

Braden's birthday party at My Gym, Beijing. It was such a fun party for the kids. The leader does such a good job keeping the kids entertained. The party itself was not run nearly as well as the ones back at home or compared to the party we had for Nicholas the weekend before at Best Science, but that is what mom is for! And of course I made one of my famous cakes! Braden had a fantastic time and LOVED having all of his friends around. This is his first big friends party. He loved it.

Thanks for looking at my photos. Let me know what you think.

Don't forget February 1st is the One Little Word blog hop for the class over at Big Picture Classes.com taught by Ali Edwards and it starts HERE on my blog. If you've picked a word for 2011, you might enjoy seeing what all the blog hop participants have come up with for the month of January and hear what has happened with their One Little Word. If you are student in the class and would like to particpate, you have until Friday to send me an email and we'll get you signed up!

And come back tomorrow for Best Shot Wednesday as well as a picture of the cake I made for Braden's 6th birthday party this past Saturday.

Camping Cupcake Cake & Science Cupcakes

This weekend we finally celebrated Nicholas' 10th birthday with his friends. He turned 10 way back in November but due to some procrastination on my part, a 3 week trip home to the States as well as a few things out of my control, we didn't make his party happen until yesterday.

As is the tradition in our family, I made a cake for the party. It's a fun tradition. I always consult with the birthday boy and come up with a design that is doable and fun for me as well as exciting for them. This year Nicholas didn't think he wanted any special themed cake. Sad about this since I love doing this for my boys, I searched around until I found something I thought he might like. And he did. It was this camping cupcake cake that I found on the Hello, Cupcake blog a few months ago.

I submitted this photo for The View From Here challenge at Gogovivi.com's blog.

After choosing the camping cake way back in August, Nicholas' party ended up being at a Science place, so for the additional cupcakes it made sense to make them related to the science theme. After a quick google search, we found some really cute ideas and here is what we came up with:

A collection of mad scientists and some beakers. Cute, huh? I think they are adorable if I do say so myself. I couldn't believe my luck when I found some jelly beans at a Chinese convenience store next to my son's school just when I needed them. I have never before seen jelly beans any where in Beijing! And it turns out when I got home that my ayi (housekeeper) ate the few jelly beans that I had brought back from the States! I don't know what it is with her and fruity candy. She did that once before and it was also special candy that we are saving. Otherwise, she is a pretty darn good employee. I'm not sure why she just doesn't ask! Next tsime I'll buy her some as a souvenir.

 

Click here for CUPCAKE BAKING TIPS from my guest blogger, Vernell.

My Baby is 10!

 

His annual birthday interview:

What do you want to be when you grow up? singer

What is your favorite hobby? Legos, Wii, stop action animation

What is your favorite color? white

What is your favorite book? Alex Rider, the second one: Point Blank

What is your favorite food? Cream of chicken soup or chili and nachos del Grande (made by dad)

What is your favorite dessert? ice cream (strawberry, cherry or pistachio)

What is your favorite song? What I've Done by Lincoln Park

What is your favorite snack? Oreos or Baby Star noodle snacks (fried noodle or chicken ramen flavors)

What is your biggest accomplishment in the past year? Fastest 3rd grader in the school obstacle course

What do you want to do that you haven't yet done? Visit the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort (India)

What is your favorite place? America Specifically? Boston because they have good Boston Cream Pie

What's your favorite board game? Apples to Apples, Lego Creationary

Favorite video game? Thrillville for Wii

What is your dream vacation? visit all the amusement parks in one month and spend the night

What is your favorite holiday? Xmas because of all the presents and candy

If you had a million dollars what would you spend it on? I would buy a quarter of my dream house, a private plane ore Legos or Wii games

What is your favorite subject at school besides recess? art

If the phone rang right now who would you want it to be? my friend from school telling me that he won't be moving next month

What is your favorite TV show? Adventuretime

What is your favorite movie? Avatar

What is your favorite word? kumkuat

Who is your favorite person? my little brother

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! SO INCREDIBLY BLESSED YOU ARE MY SON!

Best Shot Wednesday - 2

Hi Again! It is Wednesday, so here I am with my best shot of the week. This is my youngest son all ready to leave for school. Our neighbor doesn't like us to keep our bikes in the hallway (most other floors keep their bikes in the hallway) so we keep them in our play room. The weather has started getting colder so we are wearing heavier coats and gloves to protect our hands from the chill on our bike. 

What I like about this photo is the morning light on his face, his expression, and a slice of our daily life.

I didn't take too many photos this week even though I got a new lens last Thursday! My faithful 50mm f/1.8 broke. It fell out of my bag (that I was sure was zipped up) and landed on my oldest son's head as I was bending over to help him get ready for school. My much more expensive wide angle lens and camera body were also in my bag, but luckily they stayed put! I only paid about $60 for the broken lens three years ago so I think I got more than my money's worth.

And as I joked with a friend back home via email - my main concern was obviously my lens NOT my son's head. My defense was that his head can heal (though no damage was done), my lens can not. Haha!

Of course this mishap gave me an excuse to upgrade my 50mm. This time I got the f/1.4. And I'm even more in love with it than I was with my f/1.8. The colors are more vibrant, the pictures crisper. And I am reminded again first hand that with lenses you get what you pay for.

Do you have a favorite lens? Why do you love it? I'm always curious to hear what lenses people are using and what they use them for.

SIMPLE THINGS

I was just visiting Rebecca's blog and I discovered her Simple Things challenge.

I thought my Best Shot Wednesday photo was perfect for it this week. I truly LOVE riding my son to school on the bike. Since moving to Beijing we are now 'city people'. We don't own a car and our two older boys take the bus to school. All that means no more 'car time' to spend with my children chatting to them while driving them to & from school, sports and other activities. When I was home this summer I realized how much I missed it. This time my youngest and I have on the bike is all I have left of my 'car time'! It is likely he will be taking the bus starting in Fall and then it's lost forever (or until we move back to the States). I'm savoring that Simple Thing every day!

PHOTO WALK

I took my two youngest boys on a photo walk early Saturday morning. It was so cold that we didn't last very long, but it was fun nonetheless. I must admit that I get shy about taking the photos I really want to take but I have no problems coaching my boys into taking some good ones.

Here are some of my favorites of the ones they took:

 My 5 year old's:

My 10 year old's:

It is shocking how quickly the hutongs and back streets of Beijing are disappearing. In this same little village area surrounded by blocks of high rises, an old lively crowded restaurant was just flattened on Tuesday. My son and I ride my bike through this area every day on the way to school. We were both shocked when one morning it was literally reduced to a pile of rubble. Just the previous day it was teeming with people. I had made a mental note to stop there one day on the way to school for some fried bread and to take a few photos. Too late now!

They are making way for new modern skyscrapers.

Me? I much prefer old Beijing. It won't be here much longer. Don't Blink!

Placemat

We have a set of educational placemats. One has a map of the world on one side and a list of funny facts about different countries on the other. When we were preparing to move to China, Nicholas was reading all of the funny facts. The fact about China mentioned that citizens were only allowed to have one child. He was wondering which one of our children was going to get to go. And what would we do with the other two.

ONE Crazy Family

ONE child policy for locals

ONE foreign family

THREE kids

TWO parents

FIVE helmets

FIVE bikes

TEN kilometers ridden

ONE big spectacle.

I wish I had a photo of us riding our bikes through the crazy streets of Beijing all in a line. I felt like a mother duck with her three little helmeted ducklings trailing behind.

We turned quite a few heads. People don't wear helmets in Beijing. Kids don't ride bikes and families don't have three children.

Whispering in Her Ear

We were at a birthday party with quite a few of Braden's friends from school. They were all running around having a great time. At one point Braden was whispering to two of his little friends who are girls, Mila & Amelie. I had no idea what they were saying and didn't pry. They are only 4 and five years old so it should all be pretty harmless. Braden revealed to me in conversation today what he had been whispering. He asked if he could go over to play at their houses. They both said yes and Mila even said she would give him candy! Priceless!!

My Favorite Photo from Tuesday

At the last minute on Sunday night I decided to participate in the A Week in the Life Project inspired by Ali Edwards. I have considered doing this for many years and have even had a few false starts but this year I've gotten further than ever. Whether I will actually get everything into an album remains to be seen, but so far I have three full days of picture taking under my belt, two days of journaling done at the end of each day and file folders collecting ephemera from my day.

My picture taking is definitely slowing down a bit. On Monday I took 249, Tuesday 187 and today 85 so far (it is now 11:34 PM). I am finding it tiring taking photos all day for more than a few days in a row. It is one thing to be taking photos all day while sightseeing and a whole different thing when catching my everyday. Some of it has to do with getting over my inhibitions of taking photos in odd places like at the cashier or of the workers who maintain the gardens in our courtyard or the new friend I met for lunch today who I don't know all that well. And part of it is trying to think of interesting things to take photos of day after day, especially since this week is a quiet week.

It's all fun none-the-less. And now that I have made it this far, I have to complete the week. Check back later in the week to see if I get around to sharing more of my favorite Week in the Life photos.

April Fool's Day Tricks

We love April Fool's Day at our house. I would venture to say that it is one of Nicholas' favorite holidays behind Christmas and Halloween. I'll have to ask him when he gets home from school. We started really celebrating in 2008 after I had completely forgotten about it in 2007. Nicholas asked and asked and asked me to play tricks on him on April Fool's in 2008. How could I disappoint? I went all out. I had tricks set up all over the house that lasted all day. Most of my tricks came from FamilyFun.com.

One of our most effective tricks resulted in this photograph:

I found a trick chore chart on the Family Fun website. They had specific instructions on how to use it. But, all I did was print out the chores and then divide them between the two older boys and post it on the wall in the kitchen.

There were chores like mow the lawn with Dad's toenail clippers, bring everyone in the family a midnight snack, collect aluminum cans from the neighbors to pay for your lunch money. The chores were so outlandish that it never occurred to us the boys would take them seriously. But as soon as they started reading the chores, they were both overcome with tears of anger and ran from the room. I was shocked especially because it had already been established several moments earlier with several other more benign jokes that today was April Fool's Day. We explained as quickly as we could that this was only an April Fool's Joke and that they were in no way expected to take on those chores. Nicholas began to calm down, Reece however, was inconsolable.

When I asked, 'What's wrong, Reece?' He asked,'Why did you give me the hardest ones!!!?' It was so hard not to laugh. I then had to explain that since it was a joke, I didn't pay any attention to who got which chores since they wouldn't be responsible for them anyway. Luckily, that explanation got through and he eventually calmed down. Both boys felt much better when we suggested they tear the fake chore sheets in half.

We contemplated making up a new chore chart this year, but are pretty sure that the 2008 experience, even though two long years ago, is fresh enough in their minds that they wouldn't fall for it twice.

The tricks we tried this year are the raisin in the tube of toothpaste - looks like a bug is coming out of the tube when they squeeze, jello in a glass with straw - they think it is Gatorade until they go to drink it, switch the cereal bags inside the box so the wrong kind of cereal comes out, switch the kids into different beds while they are sleeping - we put Nicholas in the playroom this year and told him he sleepwalked, we planted the iPod on Reece and we accused him of listening to it before bed without permission (Dad wanted to do that one, but Reece was a good sport about it).

My all time favorite April Fool's Joke is one I heard from a parent at our elementary school back in the States that we tried out last year. You set all the clocks in the house an hour ahead and wake up the kids an hour early (clock tells the usual time to wake up). You get the kids ready like usual and you take them to school as usual (except that you are an hour early). You get there and they see that the school is totally empty. You wait a minute or two for effect and act confused, then you spring it on them - April Fool's! And once the shock has warn off, you take them out to breakfast (if you live in Beijing, however, the only place open that early is McDonalds')! So much fun! We did that last year. But that is only a one time trick since the first thing they did when they woke up this morning was check the clock on my computer to see if it matched the other clocks in the house.

I hope you enjoy your April Fool's Day. What are some of your favorite tricks?

Petty Theft on the Rise in Beijing!

There has been a lot of talk around Beijing, in the paper, on the expat message boards and amongst friends that pick pocketing is on the rise. I believe that it is rampant. I've lived here now for 20 months and have had two Blackberries and one iPod Touch mysteriously disappear out of my handbag. My husband has lost two Blackberries. One from the counter at immigration in Hong Kong and the other taken from his pocket while he was riding his bike home from work through the snow covered city.

Today, I was almost a victim again.

I was walking down the street pushing an empty stroller (on the way to pick up Braden from school) and talking on my cell phone (actually texting). I put my phone in my coat pocket and continued to walk towards the school. Before I knew it I was smashing my elbow down on someone's wrist and felt my phone drop out of their hand and back into my pocket. I reflexively (is that a word?) stopped a pick pocket-er in mid steal! Can you believe that?

I turned around and started yelling at him in English. He started yelling back at me in Chinese. I don't even remember what I said and of course I have no idea what he said. I think I told him that he can't do that and that he should stop and he should just never do that. Then I realized that he couldn't understand a word I was saying. But I kept yelling at him and then I thought of the one half way appropriate thing I could say in Chinese. Bu hao (boo how)! Directly translated this means, 'No good!' Not exactly a biting condemnation of his gall. But it's all I could come up with.

Then he stopped yelling at me and looked around a little. I'm not sure if he was working for or with someone and they gave him a signal or if he realized it probably wasn't a smart idea to call attention to himself when he is the one that tried quite sloppily to steal something. But he stopped yelling and I just walked off.

In the end I was shaking a bit. But you know what? I was not worried in the least about my safety. I did not feel threatened at all. I was just so happy that I stopped one of these thieves. I feel like I won a small victory. Yay me! 

Just a quick break to record my story before I continue the reorganization of my whole computer set-up. I'm reformatting my External Hard Drive back-up to integrate my new Mac Book. Then I have to rebuild my entire iPhoto Library because iPhoto has stopped functioning. ARGH! Will my Apple problems never end? I still haven't received a solution to my iWeb (read - blog) problem. No progress whatsoever and now they are passing me off to the Apple Care people since I paid for that with my new Mac Book. I am dreading the call because they take hours and so far NO PROGRESS since December 19, 2009.

Deep breath. Wish me luck! It will all be good in the end. Spring cleaning of the house and the computer. And the photos (thanks to Library of Memories.)

I've recently finished a new scrapbook page - double page with seven 4x6 photos using Basic Grey Origin papers that I got when I was home in February. I'll post it tomorrow (hopefully). I'm having a tough time getting back into the blog groove.

Until next time...be safe and zip up your valuables!

Announced by Braden

Friday Braden told me that he was going to be a racer when he grows up because he is so fast. When I inquired what kind of racer, he informed me that he would be both a running racer and a car racer. This is a recent change since all other answers since he was old enough to talk have been various types of animals, usually dinosaurs, but sometimes giraffes or elephants.

Traditonal Birthday Interview - Five Years Old

Yesterday we were finally able to sit down and have the annual birthday interview. We typically try to interview the birthday child on the day of their birthday or at least the day after, but since our video camera (point & shoot with video) went missing, it was impossible.

Funny story, though, how the camera happened to disappear. When I couldn't locate my camera after about 24 hours, I had convinced myself that it had been nicked. After all there had been an increase in petty theft in our area, Spring Festival is coming up and it is known that people need money for their journey home.

That weekend we only left the house twice and both times were to go to an uncrowded restaurant. So the only culprit could be the waitress! Why and when and how she had managed this, I had no idea. I concluded that the pick pockets in Beijing were nothing short of magicians. I had a deep purse and the camera would have been at the bottom. How else would the person have nicked it?

I started shopping around for my new camera. I was feeling incredibly irresponsible and was vowing to leave my new camera at the house at all times except special occasions. How could a person be more careful than I had been with that camera and still lose it? Depressing.

All boys had already been questioned - perhaps they had wandered off with it or picked it up to take a few photos. When the newly turned five-year-old was first questioned, his response was, 'Let me get my map!' He had made a treasure map the day before. This gave me hope. Maybe he had hidden it as part of a game. But, no, later he said he didn't take it.

Then on Tuesday night, after a series of events too laborious to mention here, our oldest child found it in a storage box in our bedroom! He became my new favorite child! My husband blurted out that he would be getting a new video game. (No joke!) When hearing this, however, our middle child burst into tears. He was imagining his older brother getting a new video game console with new game all to himself. And that wasn't fair. After he was consoled and reassured that it would only be a new Wii game (what was my husband thinking?) and they would all share it, we celebrated with champagne. Not really, but I felt like it.

Nobody has admitted to placing the camera in that obscure location but we deduce that sometime on Saturday afternoon while our littlest child was playing in our room, he placed it in there pretending it was a treasure box. It does have a lid, that, with a little imagination, could look like a treasure box. The map, I think, is a pretty good give away to who did it.

Important thing though, is that I have my camera back and we can get on with one of our family's favorite birthday traditions, the birthday interview. But first reminisce with me as we look through a few favorite photos from my baby's first five years.

Isn't he the sweetest thing?

His first Christmas - 11 months old

This one reminds me of his beautiful blond curls that I knew would never come back. It took us a very long time to get his first haircut because we wanted to keep them as long as possible.

Playing that Cranium game where you have to draw the picture with your eyes closed while your teammate guesses. And he still loves to draw. Now he does it with his eyes open!

With his souvenir sword in Nara, Japan.

West Lake, Hangzhou, China

FIVE! YEARS! AMAZING!

THE INTERVIEW

What's your favorite color? black, green, red, orange, blue

Whats your favorite drink? milk, no apple juice

What's your favorite food? cereal, Coco Puffs

Whats your favorite game? Rumble in the Jungle (a Chinese game similar idea to Mouse Trap but much cooler)

Whats your favorite treat? ice cream - chocolate

What's your favorite snack? Fiber One Bar or smoothie

What's your favorite restaurant in China? Yoshinoya (Japanese fast food)

What's your favorite restaurant in America? Elephant Bar

What's your favorite place? The Place (the mall right next door to our house is called 'The Place')

What's your favorite toy? Legos, my new Clone set

Wha'ts your favorite book? Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

What's your favorite sport? soccer to play & watch

What's your favorite movie? Garfield: Funfest

What's your favorite TV show? American Idol (it comes on at 6 pm here)

What's your favorite thing to do? go outside and play at the park in the courtyard

What's your favorite place in Beijing? The Great Wall - walking on top of it and all that stuff

What's your favorite Super Hero? Super Man actually Wonder Woman and Oct Girl

What's your favorite thing to wear? My Jedi costume = silver alien helmet with antennae, shiny red cape & red light saber

Whose your friend? Geordie, Ollie, Satvir, William (from school) & Persi, oh and Victoria

Whose your favorite person? You!

What's your favorite place in America? Home, no Grandma's (we don't ahve our home ot go to any more)

If you could go any where in the world on vacation, where would you go? India (we are going in October and there are tons of commercials for it here)

What do you want to be when you grow up? A Pterodactyl, no, a dragon

WHat is your favorite son? Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer

Then the interviewee asked if the interview could be over.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!