Stollen

Papa Bear's Papa brought us some baked goods. He said, "This is stollen, but I didn't break any Commandments."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stollen

One Incredible Dad

That's what Mama Bear said to call this post.

The cake is peanut butter ice cream sandwiches covered in whipped cream and chocolate syrup, and decorated with fondant. Brother Bear came up with the idea, and Mama Bear executed it. No, she is not a professional, but it looks pretty good, wouldn't you say? And she cooked steaks for dinner.

I also got cards from the boys, and a copy of Big Daddy's Tales From the Lighter Side of Raising a Kid With Autism, by one of my favorite bloggers, Big Daddy Autism. He blogs about life with his son, who is about the same age as ours and who, like our son, has autism. I'd say I have one incredible family.

A Little History

A funny thing happens when you comment on blogs. Every once in a while, someone reads your comment, clicks on your profile, and starts reading your blog. You can't count on it. You may leave dozens of comments and get no response, let alone new readers, and one day you leave a comment that intrigues or pleases one or more people, and suddenly people whose comments or blogs you've admired leave admiring comments on your blog. That has happened several times recently, and I have received many kind and encouraging words. Thank you all.

I thought it would be nice to welcome new readers with an introduction, or rather a Contradiction and a post or two to give you the general flavor.

Oh, I should also mention that this is actually not my blog, it is a family blog. I just happen to post the most often. And I strive for balance: this is not an autism blog; it is a blog about life. Neither is it an autism-free zone (obviously) because autism is a big part of our life as a family. While working hard to see that GL gets what he needs, the rest of us, Mama Bear, Brother Bear, and I, also work at having a life outside of autism. I've seen what happens to people who don't. It isn't pretty.

Sledding and Cake

Since MB took a cake decorating class, she has been making cakes to practice her skills. Cake is good, but we've been eating more cake than is good for us. TKDS (the kids down the street) plus some of their friends from around the neighborhood spent Saturday and Sunday afternoons sliding down the hill beside our house. GL and BB joined them. It's not much of a hill, and with the warmer temperature, the snow was turning to slush that packed down to a lumpy layer of ice. Some sleds could slide on it, but others had to be pushed all the way down the hill. They seemed to enjoy it anyway.

Then MB got the idea to bring out the extra cake. TKDS & Co. seemed puzzled at first, but everyone accepted a slice. Not everyone finished a slice. I think maybe the pieces with black and gray frosting were less appetizing. Black and gray frosting? It was a Ford 9N tractor cake. I'll let MB tell you that story.

P.S. I just realized that technically, I could call them New Kids on the Block. Nah.

Goldilock's prayer.

Today during family worship Goldilocks asked to pray, something he almost never does. Below is his prayer, I found it heartfelt and humorous.

Dear God,

I thank you that Mary Claire will get better and do her work. Thank you for all the things you give us; sun, moon, stars, bugs and lizards. And now if you will excuse me God, I want to have a piece of cake now.

Cake class final.

This was my final project for cake class level 1. I had two hours to work on it. I started the class with the cake iced, so I had all of my time for decorating. I would have liked more time. I am slow at decorating. I prefer to treat it like art, taking my time to make an eatable art project. I passed the class and have already started saving for the next one. This is something I dearly love doing, even if I'm not the most talented person in class. I enjoy this enough to take the time to improve my skills. Sometimes you have to do something badly before you can learn to do it well. I think it's worth it, to make something beautiful. My goal is to improve my skills to the point where I would not be ashamed to offer my cakes for sale.

More on cake class part 2.

For week three's class we were FORCED to do this clown cake. I hate clowns, but I did the lesson. I don't know what I learned, except if you want a great cake do something you enjoy.

More on cake class.

Sometime between weeks two and three of my cake class, I spent some time practicing with drop flowers. These look great with surprisingly little effort. I will share more on cake class in later posts. I finished it on Oct. 31 right before I got very sick. This is the first time in weeks, that I have felt like posting.

Cake class lesson #1

Well it's not art, but it tasted good. I am learning a lot. I think I will really like cake decorating.