A Hero, A Staph Infection, A Craft Fair, and A Birthday Party

Oh fun friends; where do I even begin? This week has been one of those weeks that you have (ok so maybe only I have "these weeks", but let's pretend that you have them to, it makes me feel better about myself when others are in the same boat if ya' get my drift) only occasionally that are absolutely hilarious, unreal, and completely entertaining in both good and bad ways. Did that make sense? Probably not, but we'll move on anyway. I also should note now, that I am totally aware that in order to make a blog truly entertaining and worth looking at/reading are those that include photos. I am going to lack in this department (see ya!, to those clicking the x button at this point) because I'm an idiot and forgot to include the necessary camera card when taking my camera to certain events this past week. I know, silly mistake. At least I didn't meet Justin Bieber or something and then realize my lack of camera card preparedness--that would have sucked really bad. Especially now that he has a possible love child, those photos would have sold for enough money to potentially put Owen through college--but like I said, I didn't run into the Biebs, but I am pausing momentarily to put the camera card into the camera for my next outing.

So on Tuesday we'll say (I don't know exactly what day this happened), I got to hang with Erin Moroni! I say this with excitement because she is the funny lady that I have ever met in my life (and as I've mentioned before, I've had the privilege of meeting some very interesting/funny people via my business...) and I cannot tell you how much I laughed the day we hung out. My stomach actually hurt after leaving her house that day because of how much she made me laugh. I'm pretty sure I've talked about how Erin was my very first Tickled Tutu client (too bad for her--those tutus were soooooo not cute, she was a nice lady to pay for them and not just walk away from the hot mess) and how randomly I came across her blog (www.erinsays.net GO THERE for laughs and fun) and decided that it was necessary to say hi and yada yada now she is my new hero in life. So that was a great start to my week. Owen had so much fun playing with her girls and all of the toys in her gigantic beautiful house; and unfortunately may have also injured one of her children's pet lizards because he felt it would be a good idea to swing it around by it's tail... (so far it's still alive, I think), but other than that, it was just an awesomely fun day in a nutshell.

So back up a night; or something, maybe I visited Erin on Wednesday, who really cares, but the night before visiting Erin, I had a small incident that involved my foot and a toothpick. The short version is the toothpick (well half of it anyway) ended up lodged inside my left big toe. My husband, who also witnessed this happen, talked me into thinking that this was not really a big deal and that like a small splinter, it would eventually just come out-or something like that. I bought his answer (weird) and moved on with life until I woke up the next morning and my toe was slightly larger than it should be. Anyway, this was the morning I was to visit my hero and so there was nothing that was going to stop me from doing that; and since I could still fit my foot into my shoes, again I moved on with life.

Fast forward to Friday night. (Yes, toothpick had at that point been in the big toe for approximately 3-4 days...no big deal says husband, right?) Friday night was craft fair setup night. The night where you really need to be on your A-game and get your booth set up so that Saturday's craft show goes smoothly. Well. Toothpick toe decided to become a problem. A problem called a staph infection. My bad. Moral of the story--your husband is not always right, actually this just affirms what I usually know to be true, which is, the wife is always right. THERE WAS A TOOTHPICK IN MY TOE FOR DAYS AND I DID NOTHING ABOUT IT. Hello? Such an idiot I am. So at 9:45pm on Friday night (I'm purposely leaving out the part where the toothpick made its exit from my toe for your sake, trust me it was gross), there I sat in Urgent Care while a "nurse" -- she also checked me in so I'm not sure what her actual title is, but we'll call her a nurse; so I sat there while a nurse and a doctor looked at the crater in my toe and then proceeded to dump an insane amount of hydrogen peroxide into the hole and scrub my toe with a Brillo pad thing like scrubbing was going out of style. I would have rather given birth without drugs. IT. WAS. THAT. PAINFUL. Fast forward to 12:30am (note: craft fair setup for Saturday morning starts at 7am) I am hopping on one foot out of the urgent care office to my car, driving to the 24-hour creepy Walgreens to get my 84 types of antibiotics/narcotics/things that will prevent me from injuring my husband once returning home...you know, the usual. A freaking staph infection; of which I was told that it would be in my best interest to go to the hospital and have a sonogram taken of my toe (was my toe pregnant? I really didn't understand that part but oh well)--however, no; I had a craft fair to attend to. Another REALLY smart choice, by the way. This is why I suppose I am not a teacher. I'm instead the example of what not to do. "Kids, please meet Kristen. Kristen is our show-and-tell today. She does almost everything that you should not do. Take notes, there will be a test later."

Ok, so yesterday, Saturday, was craft fair day.

This is how Owen feels about my tutus.

The doctor had perhaps mentioned to me a few times that I was to sit on a chair the entire day with my foot elevated and work my booth in that fashion. He obviously has never had to sell tutus at a craft show before. Boy is he missing out on the fun. So after 9 hours on my feet yesterday, life was looking a little less fun than a few days prior. However the pain had subsided because I couldn't even feel my foot by the time the day was over, so I guess that was a plus. I ended up falling asleep on the living room floor around 7pm. Fully clothed, with shoes on. I woke up around 10:30pm with 2 guitar hero guitars on my head and my husband and son were upstairs in bed. Who leaves someone in that condition on the living room floor?!!??! I guess I'm glad they didn't draw on my face. Mean boys. Paybacks will be so much fun. And I DO draw on faces. (Not Owen's face, come on now. Just Chris's.)

SOOOO..wow if you are still reading this, then you deserve an award. Chris, Owen, and I have now just returned home from my friend Erin's house as her youngest daughter's birthday party was today. SO MUCH FUN. Again, you cannot go to that house and not have fun. I really hope that I receive photos from this celebration as I would just love to share the good times with you (although most photos will not be appropriate enough to show---too bad, so sad). The party was a "cupcake decorating" themed party and was soooo much fun. And, Owen didn't even injure Crumb the lizard this time. As we said our "Goodbyes" I noticed that we were leaving with something extra that we did not come with. A bright pink baby doll stroller. For my son to push around, just like all other boys do.... Because he loves it. Thank you Erin. I will end on that note.

The stroller is hiding in the trunk currently. Owen is asleep. If he asks about it when he wakes up, I might have to lie and say that Erin came over and needed it back. Seriously; it will save his dating life in the future to not own a pink baby doll stroller.

And that's all I have in me for now everyone. Take care of your toes. Wear shoes. XOXO

Just a day in the life...of a suburban housewife.

Hola Amigos! (Yep, learned that from Dora too) Hope you all had a fabulous weekend. I know it's been a few days since I've updated you on the exciting life of the Mentasti's, so I figured that now was a good time to quit cutting tulle, making tutus, and preparing for the death of me (aka: next week's craft fair) and unload on my fabulous readers!!! Lucky you-gold star today! So let me see what's happened in the last few days. See; here's the prob. My mind moves about 800 miles per hour and with each of those movements comes thoughts. I need like an implanted post-it machine that spits out thoughts as I think them that way I can really give you a good picture of my day to day life, but until one of you entrepreneurs creates that device (and I will do a clinical trial for you; just sedate me please first), then I will have to rely on my memory...ha! That's funny. Anyway, let's move on, ya?
So the last time I wrote was last MONDAY. Wow. Bad blogger, right here. But at least I should have some good material. First and most importantly; there have been no further events consisting of Owen using the bathroom in the backyard--this is a plus. A big plus. Yey for success!

Tuesday however, was one of the highlights of my life (and this again is going to sound bad, but hey, I've never once claimed to be supermom...) I was working on an adult Barbie tutu, which was quite time consuming but fun at the same time, and I believe Owen was a bit annoyed at the fact that I could not devote the entire 12 hour day to playing with his trucks/dragons/scissors (ha! just seeing if you're paying attention)...anyway, I was cutting tulle in the playroom while he was "cooking" his "crab" (a wooden crab puzzle piece) in the fake girly kitchen that he owns and loves. Well apparently I was not paying enough attention to the fact that his two minute warning for which he gave me at which point the crab would be fully cooked, was coming to an end, because before I knew it, I was being attacked by a flying crab and a 2 year old sitting on the ground pouting. And the words that came out of his mouth were priceless: "Mommy, I'm SAD at you." Now some people may take that as, "wow that's really awful, he's sad. I took it as my opportunity for a little teaching lesson on the difference of being mad at someone and sad at someone. I explained "Owen, sad is when you go to Nordstroms and find out that the dress you've been drooling over for weeks only comes in size 12.....Mad is when Daddy comes home an hour late from work and I am responsible for 60 entire more minutes of two year old entertainment." He pondered my explanation for a few seconds and then responded.."Nope, I'm VERY sad at you." So that was that. I laughed. Put the crab back in the microwave; put the kid in the wagon and took 8 laps around the block. Things turned out fine.

Over the next few days, I don't really know what happened honestly. Things are quite blurry due to lack of sleep and attempting to attend every single Halloween function within 20 miles of my home. BTW: Need a review of a trick-or-treat street/hayride adventure/anything Halloween related event within a 50 mile radius of Highlands Ranch-I'm your girl. Hit me up.  In fact, here are some photos for your enjoyment. FYI: We decided that this year we would be the Superhero family (no need to remind you that we are absolute nerds and that's that, don't bother trying to change the status, we're quite content.)

So I honestly have a ton more to blab about but like I said, I don't have a post-it machine to spit out thoughts the moment they come out, so until I can remember the good and juicy parts of last week, I'm off!

Much Love!!
Kristen

Swiper, no swiping! Adventures at Hobby Lobby.

Hi Friends! So it's been a few days since I've written. I know you've all been dying to hear the latest series of exciting events that have been taking place in the Mentasti household since my last post, so I'll try to fill you in as quickly as possible: holy cow so much has gone on I can't even muster up the strength to write about it.
Ha. Just kidding. Every has been pretty normal for us - which is not to say it's been normal in your definition of the word, just mine. Over the past 4 days, I've had 22 tutu orders; mostly custom, and mostly fun. That has kept me extremely busy and I am also in desperado need of a manicure as my sewing skills could be better, if you know what I mean. But let's move on and discuss the events in the life of Owen. Lately the "terrible twos" (a phrase I think is actually just silly because at any given age, your child is likely to be terrible) have struck. Owen has lost all listening skills (or so he has tricked us into thinking anyway) and has lately decided that going to the bathroom in the backyard is way cool. I do believe I mentioned this in one of my previous posts, but if not, don't worry-I'm sparing you the details.
So onto the highlight (oh man this is going to make me sound like such a mom dork--which I refer to as MD's by the way) of my day...it took place this fine afternoon at my favorite place, Hobby Lobby. (MD). I am so sleep deprived right now that it's not even funny therefore although I have managed to stay on a daily showering regimen, the daily "make yourself look presentable" plan has not been happening as often- but I thought, who really cares? I'm just going to Hobby Lobby. Everyone there looks like me, basically. Just a bunch of MD's cruzin' around for junk we all think we need. However this week is a fantastic Hobby Lobby week because there is a 40% off one item coupon AND ALL TULLE SPOOLS ARE 50% OFF. HUGE PEOPLE. Weeks like this save me hundreds of dollars, so face made up or not, I'm getting my behind to HobLob.
So as I am checking out with my 37 spools of beautiful tulle; my son (note: going through terrible twos) is trying to simultaneously jump out of the shopping cart and snatch the candy rack on the way down. He was unsuccessful, but no credit given to me. This disaster was saved by a girl roughly his age in the isle next to us who had in her cute little hands a stuffed Dora doll and and stuffed Boots doll as well. The heavens shown down and all was well with the world because Owen calmly sat back down and said "Mom, Dora! Boots!" Thank you Nick Jr. for this wonderful show.
Well; I hope the mom never comes across my blog because of what I'm about to call her...an MD. Yep, she too is part of the club. And then it happened. The two of us, the adults in the situation, busted out the Dora theme song, hand motions and all. I am so embarrassed to be writing this. You should have seen the looks on all 4 cashiers' faces. A mixture of "WTF are these MDs doing" and "Wow...I need a new job" I think were two of the first thoughts going through the heads of these HobLob workers.
The song concluded, we said our goodbyes and I ran to the car faster than the speed of lightening in fear that one of those hidden camera shows was going to catch me in the act of breaking out into Dora song and dance. Wow. It was truly remarkable. The sad thing is, I venture to HobLob approximately 3-4 times a week. I know almost every worker bee in the place. Now I'm going to have to go to another HobLob, which is 20 minutes further from my house than my normal hang out just to save what's left of my reputation. Shoot.

Anyway; as I mentioned before--totally normal here. Oh and Owen painted the back sliding glass door today too. Can't wait for Chris to come home.

Until next time,

xoxo Kristen

Terrific Tuesday!

Hi Friends! So I totally planned on writing last night (remember the plan was to write in the evenings as a way to unwind and review the day's events...) however the events from my "day" yesterday did not end until 2:30am, therefor I didn't have any extra energy other than crawling in to my lovely couch bed. (I have claimed the couch as my bed for about 3-4 days a week due to the fact that my husband's snoring is so loud that I'm surprised our neighbors aren't yet complaining and he also has this self-assurance that he sleeps in, and I quote, only "1/4 of the entire bed". So not true.) Anyway, yesterday was an interesting weather day here in HRanch. The day started out very windy and rainy so we have just a few leaves left on our beautiful fall colored trees out back. Yet what still surprises me is that no matter how fast the wind is blowing or how hard it's storming outside, the bird house that Owen and I built (that story is for another day) is not only still hanging by the thin branch it's on, but still has a good amount of birdseed inside! Broken branches everywhere, yet the seed prevails. Just one of the many daily things that makes me think...as Owen would say; "but...why???"

 

Other than jumping in the rain puddles and getting extremely dirty yesterday afternoon, we spent most of the rest of the day searching for a mouse that Chris apparently found in the garage on Sunday. I love animals for the most part, but a mouse is a rodent. Rodents do not belong in my garage. And on top of that, I have cats, 2 in fact. And I should note that they are free for the taking if anyone is in need of a super loving, wonderfully behaved, never inconvenient feline. I might even add in a signing bonus if you would like to adopt one of my furry "friends". So, the story is, one of these great animals I own has claws, and one doesn't. The one with claws saw the mouse on Sunday and what did she do? Grab for it? No way. She ran and hid under the bed. But like I said, she is wonderful and up for adoption and would be a GREAT addition to your home...

So on that note, I hope that you all have a fantastic day and I look forward to writing more soon!

xoxo Kristen



What's in a title?

HI! Welcome to my blog; Happy Cakes and Cheese Pockets! I have read about how sometimes it can be difficult to grab the ideal name of your blog, as many names have been already taken by creative souls around the world. However, when typing in "Happy Cakes and Cheese Pokets," something in my gut told me that my chances of obtaining the name would be high....and...it was a success! However, you may be wondering why I chose this very weird, strange, and seemingly unusual name for my daily rants page (aka: my blog). Well I will tell you why!

My son Owen Michael is about 2 years and 3 months old. He has the imagination of a...well I'm not really sure what to compare his imagination to, but he's got a wild one. He's a creative kid, which I hope benefits him in the future and keeps him out of what I fear to be impending trouble in the future, but nevertheless, I will never be able to say that the kid can't tell a good story--be it true or simply imaginative. So we will start with Happy Cakes.

Happy cakes made it's first arrival into Owen's vocabulary in May of this year. One afternoon while celebrating my sister-in-law's birthday and enjoying the super delicious birthday cake, Owen got a few lyrics to Happy Birthday mixed up with the delightful sight of the sugar-filled desert. Thus, happy cakes came to life. From that point on, nearly everything with sugar has been referred to as a "happy cake." I'm talking, doughnuts, cupcakes, birthday cakes, pop tarts...and the list goes on. I thought (and still do think) that this is one of my very favorite things that comes out of my little man's mouth. Makes me smile every time!

Now, Cheese Pockets is a new phrase that just popped up last Wednesday. While I was preparing Owen's lunch, he patiently awaited the arrival of his nuggets (yep, one of our staple foods in this house) and sitting at the table with this grandma. Owen has the cutest little personalized placemat that has a pirate scene on it with this name on the top; however in the middle of the placemat there is a large treasure chest full of what we would typically call "gold." Well, I need to break the news to you that the new name of that treasure chest full of gold is: a cheese pocket.

I laughed so hard I nearly cried! But when looking at the photo, if you didn't know what exactly the object was, perhaps a cheese pocket was fitting! A pocket full of cheese! Loved it.

So I will leave you with that for now; I plan to write frequently so feel free to check back often! Owen keeps me entertained on a daily basis and thus I should have plenty of material to pass along to you, hoping to provide to you a daily smile.

Do you have any funny sayings/expressions from your little ones? I'd LOVE for you to share them with me and others in the comments section below! <3 

Until next time,

XOXO Happy Cakes and Cheese Pockets