Wednesday 20 October 2010

The great 100s and 1000s incident on Planet Baby

This afternoon is proceeding according to PB's usual routine. The pixies are all bathed early and fed and Sam is asleep. Soon, Mr PB will arrive home and start his 'shift'. I'll 'clock off' and write my blog post about using photos. Cue phonecall from Mr PB: "Oh, Honey, I forgot to tell you that I'm going out to dinner for work tonight". Okay, no worries. I can do the single mum routine tonight. Cue me: "That's fine. Just say goodnight to the pixies". I hang up.

Uh oh. The realisation dawns. I check the calendar. Yep, another PND-induced oversight. Tomorrow is Mr PB's 40th birthday! No card made by the children (but we can do it tomorrow morning). No presents bought (but that's okay because we have planned to go shopping together, just the two of us on Friday). But no cake!

Joshua and India hurriedly help me whip up a Simplicity chocolate cake. My helpers end up with chocolate batter all over them. No worries. I can do this.I strip off their pyjamas and throw them into the washing machine. The second load of the day starts up. I change them into new pyjamas.

Once cool, we ice it with chocolate icing.They end up with chocolate icing all over them, thanks to their 'help'. No worries. I can do this. I strip off their pyjamas and throw them into the washing machine. The third load of the day starts up. I change them into new pyjamas.

Far from the effort put by the pixies into making my 40th birthday cake, this one is looking a little sad. I'm running out of time. No worries. I can do this. I get a knife and trace '40' into the soft icing. I get out the 100s and 1000s and put some into a plastic bag, ready to snip off the corner and use it to fill the '40' with colour.

Cue India from the bathroom: "Mummy, I need some help getting the chocolate icing off my face". No worries. I can do this. I head to the bathroom and clean her up. Cue Joshua from the kitchen: "Oh, Mummy! I've had a little accident!" I tear into the kitchen and what greets me? The entire box of 100s and 1000s spilt all over the floor! Not just a small patch, mind, but they have spread for metres, in every direction, all over the lino kitchen floor and onto the floorboards in the family room.
This greets me
Hmm, can I do this?

I shriek. The pixies fly off to their bedroom. I pick up my little plastic bag containing my last precious 100s and 1000s and fill in the '40'. And an hour later, I finish sweeping those little critters up. They seem to have spread from one end of the house to the other, tracked on pixies' feet. I will be sweeping them up for days yet. Oh, and we have a dark, speckled lino floor in the kitchen which makes them even harder to see!

So, here's the cake. I'm sorry, darling. I tried. But it was made with lots of love!

Just don't ask me about the 100s and 1000s...


PS Six weeks later, I'm still sweeping them up!

20 comments:

  1. Oh Jane, loved this post and had a little giggle. I had forgotten what it was like to have little pixies as mine are now teenage goblins. Thanks for stopping by my blog..now I'm your newest follower. Have a lovely week ;-) Kym X

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh Jane! The cake looks fabulous and the Pixies will only remember the fun bits, like helping you and baking! Happy Birthday Mr PB!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The pixies would have just loved this...enjoy the cake and have fun celebrating!
    x

    ReplyDelete
  4. had to giggle about this post,love it jane
    my little pixies have lots of new adventures in our home too ,i have a simliar to your story only mine was coconut while make rum balls:)
    p.s the cake looks great xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh Jane :D YOU DID DO IT!! You did it all... and you did a fabulous job, lovely girl!! I think the cake looks wonderful and I am sure Mr. PB will think so too. ~ Tina xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy birthday Mr PB! The cake just looks charmingly and lovingly home made. He'll love it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh Jane, this post did make me laugh. Although I can imagine at the time it wasn't funny at all. You did well and the cake looks great - made with lots of love. Hope Mr PB has a wonderful birthday.

    ReplyDelete
  8. what a lovely gesture. i would have just purchased a cake! lol. im sure he'll love it and the kids ... what cuties! i love your stories!

    ReplyDelete
  9. ~*~*LOL!! Jane you are such a hoot!! ;) LOVED your post..and I cant even begin to imagine the horror of all of those scattered everywhere!! The cake turned out lovely btw!! HUGS~Rachel ;)~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh that cake looks utterly DELICIOUS! Its just beautiful. I can believe those things got everywhere! We had a similar incident with Bren spilling rice. I was vacuuming it up for weeks! Loved your post! You did it! x

    ReplyDelete
  11. This post made me laugh!! You poor thing with those 100's and 1000's everywhere, I bet they'll still be showing up days later!! I think your cake looks yummy, especially that thick chocolate frosting. I feel a bit like you lately and have had a few oversights of things on my calendar. I feel a bit disorganised lately and need to get things back on track here in our little household. Thanks for stopping by my blog, I've been meaning to stop by yours for some time after seeing we comment on many similar posts :) Hope you have fun celebrating Mr PB's birthday x

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm sure you'll be finding the odd 100 and 1000 under cupboards by Mr's 50th - and you'll smile back at the beautiful memories.

    Wow, now I feel like a slice of home-made chocolate cake - looks delish!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Why, thanks, ladies! Mr PB read this (hmm, before we lit the cake) and couldn't stop laughing, especially at your comments so thanks for making the birthday boy smile ☺. And the cake was quite yummy. According to Miss India, it was "the best cake ever".

    And Tina and Ash, thanks for noticing that I DID IT!

    I'm glad you said hi, Amanda - you're right, we have a common taste in heaps of blogs. I'm so pleased I've found yours this week. The photo in your last post was so pretty.

    Anyway, Mr PB has taken the three pixies off to the Botanical Gardens to enjoy the sunshine and his birthday with his parents (his wish was to spend time with them all and give me a break - he's a keeper, that one). So now I have some lovely bloggy time to myself on this sunny Hobart holiday (Royal Hobart Show Day). J x

    ReplyDelete
  14. I think it looks great regardless! x

    ReplyDelete
  15. Happy Birthday Mr PB. Clearly you didn't know my trick - my children are pretty much full time in knickers (especially when under the age of say 7) & you just keep rinsing them in the shower (or sink). Gosh it saved on washing clothes, times 4 of the messy chefs. Have a wonderful weekend, yippee, party time. Love Posie

    ReplyDelete
  16. I forgot to tell you how much this made me laugh... you tell it well... although I'm sure you were probably much closer to tears! Hope the cake was appreciated, A x

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh, Posie, how practical! After I posted this, I found that India had wiped her chocolately hands all over the couch as well. I'm still trying to get all that washing dry...

    Funnily enough, Ann, Mr PB read this post before he saw the cake so that added to his appreciation! J x

    ReplyDelete
  18. oh too funny! at least it makes for a funny blog post!

    for some reason I started using freckles on our cakes and I buy 2 bags - 1 for us to eat and one to decorate! works everytime!

    Corrie:)

    ReplyDelete
  19. you could have always used the old army wife trick when husb returns from being away the pack of 100s and 1000s was deliberately spilt on the floor and asked the kids to either eat them or pick them up with a color allocated to each child meanwhile mum and dad knicked off for a bit of 'reunification' in peace and quiet for a few minutes at least. Oldie but a goodie. Mr PB would have had a good bday and you would have had happy kids (well at least while on the sugar high) AND a clean foor

    ReplyDelete
  20. Ah, Corrie, you always plan ahead so well ☺. And Michele, that is a classic! J x

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, you gorgeous soul. You've just made my day! J x

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...