Zack has recently begun gracing us with his smiles, so today I took advantage of that and snapped some photos. It’s a rare occurrence, so I tried to capture it while I could. It helped that Jilly-Bean was nearby, because our little man always smiles at his older siblings (while Mike and I have to wait all day for a smile). Here are the results of today’s photo session:

This is the face he normally makes.

Sweet Smile

Big Sis wants in on the action? I'll pull her hair!

I grow tired of that flashy thing!

Jilly's Turn to Pose

All in all, it was a productive photo day!

I was looking up pictures of birthday cakes today as my research for an article I’m writing, and I found this:

Mario marries the Princess

If my son never out-grows his video game obsession, we may be eating something similar to this in 20 years or so …

(Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimbach/2517781217/sizes/m/.)

So yesterday, my vacuum broke. This is no big surprise, since I’m hard on vacuums and I always expect I’ll have to buy a new one once a year or so. Unfortunately, this one had really bad timing, because it broke while I was halfway through the living room, and I needed to finish the job since the guy from the moving company is coming today to give us an estimate on our move. So I had no choice – time to go shopping for a new one.

I really didn’t want to spend big money on a new vacuum, because we’re moving and I’d rather just wait until that happens before I get a new one. But I had to have SOMETHING to sweep the floors with, too. So I went to Wal-Mart and bought the cheapest little thing they had – a Eureeka 4-in-1 job that will do stick, hand, and crevice vacuuming (and stairs, too, woo hoo). It gets the job done, and if it doesn’t last forever it’s no big deal – I only spent 20 bucks.

The real miracle occurred when I took that little baby out of her box. My kids thought it was the cutest little vacuum they’d ever seen, and they BEGGED to be allowed to vacuum their rooms with it. Seriously.

Here’s the photographic evidence. My son, Mr. I’m-too-lazy-to-put-underwear-on-in-the-morning, is vacuuming my living room floor. He had already finished his bedroom and was itching for more.

Will and the Greatest Vacuum Ever

The great part about it is that I can leave the handle down for the hand-vac position and it makes it the perfect size for my little darlings.

Jillian, unfortunately, is too scared of the minimal noise it makes to actually use it herself. She wanted me to let her vacuum with it unplugged, but I told her that wouldn’t really do any of us any good. Maybe she’ll get over it after she sees how much fun Will’s having.

My own little miracle!

Today was Will’s Kindergarten graduation. Here are some photos of the happy graduate. We’re so lucky he had a great teacher who took these for us and sent them to us, since we’re not allowed to miss work this week for any reason.

Most Improved Speller

He got an award for being the “most improved speller,” which is funny because his spelling is terrible. Then again, I guess it’s better than it was. Ha!

The best part is, he will undoubtedly complain when he gets home because his award is just a piece of paper. They had a kindergarten award ceremony on Monday and he was upset that his awards (Outstanding Math and Outstanding Reading) were only certificates, while other kids got medals (the arts classes gave medals for their awards). Hilarious. I guess he has a point – it’s hard to focus on the honor of the thing when you’re 6 years old and other kids get cool medals while you just get a piece of paper.

Will's Kindergarten Class, Dundee Elementary 2009

It’s hard to believe another year is gone. Next year, our little man will be a first grader!

Well, yummy recipes anyway.

My sister has started a blog.  Let me just start by telling you that I come from a long line of bakers.  My grandmother, until recent years when she moved into an apartment sans kitchen, would be the kind of woman to end a meal by saying “And for dessert we have …” and then go on to list 5 or 6 homemade items she had stored away in the kitchen.  (Yet for some reason, my grandfather often ate just plain lime jello; what a strange but wonderful man.)  My mother, though perhaps not as thorough with her weeknight baking as Grandmom, still made delicious desserts by hand ALL the time.  I grew up with one of those great Betty Crocker moms who made all my birthday cakes without the aid of a box, and who frequently baked for other people who were in need of comfort and/or kindness. 

Unfortunately, I don’t think I inherited any of those particular genes from the women in my family.  My baking attempts are few and far between, and generally lackluster.

My sister, however, got enough genes for both of us (and for my brother, too, who cooks but rarely bakes).  Jodi is a great baker, and very creative, too.  While my mom’s recipes were all a bit more traditional, Jodi is good at tweaking things and putting her own spin on classic favorites.   

It’s good that we have her around, or my poor children would rarely taste homemade sweets.  Ironically enough, however, she has to stick to tradition if she wants them to eat it.  Last year, she tried to bake Jillian’s birthday cake, and she added a layer of raspberry filling between the chocolate cake layers.  My son looked at it and said, “Ew, gross!” and refused to eat it.  Maybe he didn’t get the baking genes, either.

Anyhoo, my sister the baker happens to have a side business as a home-based bakery caterer.  She has recently launched her own blog, Babe in the Virtual Kitchen, to showcase her creations and share recipes with readers.  Check it out, and check back often – your stomach won’t be disappointed. 

Though I have to ask, did she HAVE to create her first post using a story about what a snotty teenager she was? 

Oh well – I forgive her, because she’s sending me cookies in the mail. Yum!

These are the cookies I will soon be consuming - I stole this picture from Jodi's blog.