Cute Owl Cupcakes

I worked all day today and decided that I would at least blog tonight about something, so I remembered that I had forgotten (lol) that I never blogged about the cutest little owl cupcakes EVER.

I don't know about you, but I know several people that just love owls. Owls have recently become quite popular and it is becoming easier and easier to find owl-themed things. Now that they are popular, I find them even cuter than I did before, but most of my friends were die hard owl fans WAY before the hype and are now pretty unhappy that the rest of the world has caught on to their "thing." I completely understand where they are coming from because I used to LOVE LOVE LOVE black and white milk cows. (Ok, used to is not the correct thing to say as I do still love them dearly and I wish to squeeze them until their little heads pop off, but I don't quite obsess over them the way I used to!)

Anyway, I digress. One of the people that I know that loves owls is Evelyn's teacher. In fact, her entire classroom is owl-themed. Even their nameplates are little owls in the room. Well, it just so happens that this certain teacher's birthday came up recently. It was, in fact, on Monday. The kids were, as I've mentioned, on fall break last week, so they were not going to have the opportunity to celebrate her birthday on the day. So, I decided to make her some cupcakes a week early.

I started with a dark chocolate Duncan Hines mix. My oven runs a little hot and lately my baked goodies have been, in my opinion, a little dry due to that, so I decreased the cooking time. I think they came out moist and fluffy. I let them sit for most of a day and then frosted them with a homemade chocolate buttercream frosting. Next, I piped the frosting using an open, round tip. Lastly, the finishing touches are the cream side of an Oreo cookie (times 2), with a brown M&M in the middle and the beak is an orange M&M. I used the Autumn mix M&Ms to ensure I would have enough of the colors I needed, but I think a regular bag would do the trick. Here is the final result:

I gave them all twenty four, so I didn't get to try one, but  I hear that they were quite tasty and her teacher loved them, so it was all worth while! I also painted an Ikea plain, white picture frame for her which is decorated with owls made from Evelyn's thumbprints. 

I Don't Have Time For a Cold

I think all of the stress of the past weekend has caught up with my immune system. I am rocking a fairly irritating cold. (I know, who really enjoys a cold?) I'm sneezing and my nose is runny/stopped up all at the same time and I just feel like crap!

I can't really let it get in the way of my run this Saturday. If I don't keep training, I'll suck at 13.1, and that just won't do. I've tried everything (granted, it's been just one day). I'm drinking OJ, eating honey and cinnamon, drinking water, taking Claritin and Sudafed. My nose is so stopped up that my Netti Pot wouldn't even work on it! I think I may try some Vapor Rub tonight before bed.

Today, Shane forwent sleep when he got home and we all went to the local movie theater. On Tuesdays and Thursdays during the summer, they play a free kid's movie at 10am. He took them last week to see Madagascar 2 and today we saw Bee Movie. If you bring canned goods, you get a free popcorn and drinks are just a dollar, so it's a steal of a deal! The kids were really good for the most part. E just doesn't have the attention span to sit still that long yet, but she did OK.

After that, we went to the grocery store to stock up on food for the next two weeks. I always plan a menu out ahead of time for two weeks and we buy groceries accordingly.

Speaking of groceries, I have been thinking lately that I really need to settle on a few really good and perfected cupcake recipes. I usually try things that I see on Pinterest, but I haven't really loved one yet. I think I will keep trying a few at a time, pick out a couple or three favorites and then work on making them the most awesome tasting cupcakes EVER!

On the reading front, I just downloaded a ton of books and I will be loading them on to my Nook later this evening. Perhaps then I will pick out a new read!

Work day tomorrow. Should be weird since I've been gone for the past five days.  

Busy Day Today

We had a REALLY busy day today. Woke up and drove to a little place in town to eat called Chicken World. I had these amazingly good Chicken Cheddar Fries. 

Fries topped with cheddar cheese, ranch, buffalo sauce, chicken strips and lemon pepper

I am so glad that I have never advertised on this blog that I eat healthy. I definitely do not! They were SOOOOOOOO freakin good!

After lunch, we had to take Gabriel to the doctor for his annual check-up. Poor kid had to get a shot and you would have thought it had killed him. He seems to be doing REALLY well developmentally. Of course, the standards that they set for average children really disturbed me. The doctor asked him to name a bunch of colors that she pointed to. She then asked him to sing his ABC's. Then, she asked him to count to ten and spell his name and tell her our address. Then, she told us to make sure to buy him advanced curriculum books so he doesn't get bored in Kindergarten!! Really??? He can count to 50 and he knows more shapes than I did at 12!! What aren't people teaching their children these days if the standards are set so low? I told her that I don't have to worry about him being bored in Kindergarten since he goes to a private school and his teacher next year is the owner of the school and a speech pathologist.

We next moved on to Party City to purchase some things for Gabriel's party on Saturday. We bought plates and cups and balloons and goody bags and fillers. Then, on to Wal-Mart for more of the same, plus food supplies. I still have a few odds and ins to pick up, but we are set for the most part. While we were at Wal-Mart, we also bought Gabriel's birthday gift, a bicycle!!! (Complete with helmet and other protective accessories)

We spent so much time running around that I really didn't feel like cooking, so we stopped by Little Caesar's for dinner to-go. Gabriel also got a bath since he was feeling a little warm to me.

I've spent the last hour baking a cake and cupcakes for his party. I hate the way the house smells when I do that much baking. It's almost nauseating! 

Nom Nom Nom!!!

OMG!!! I can't seem to stop eating today!! I am so far over my calorie intake that I was almost ashamed to log them! I know this is due to a hormonal flare, but sheesh! I never eat as much as I have eaten the last 2 days!

Speaking of eating, I get to go and have muffins with Gabriel at school tomorrow and then I am going for my last solo run before Saturday. I have been itching to run, so I hope it's good. I plan on taking my camera so that I can take some pictures while I'm on the walk intervals. I plan to have those up in tomorrow's blog entry.

I finally bought cupcake wrappers tonight, so I can finally bake the "Death by Oreo" cupcakes for Gabriel's teachers in honor of teacher appreciation week. I hope they enjoy them!

Well, sorry this is so short, but I've worked a lot in the past 2 days and I'm tired. I'm off for the next 2 days, so I should have plenty to say tomorrow!!