Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Burnin' Down the House

So it’s been a little loud around my house lately.  Fireworks are legal here and for the past week I’ve been catching bursts of color out the windows.  The booms before the color in the sky, those I’ve been able to hear from any room of the house.  But on the fourth, then it’s really on.  Everyone up and down the street is outside.  It starts with the colored smoke bombs and flying parachute men.  At dusk it moves on to the sparklers.  Then it gets dark, booms and bangs and bursts of color everywhere.  The air takes on that once-a-year haze of cordite.
 
I know I’ve told this story before, many of my friends and family have heard it.  It happened towards the end of this past school year and I guess all of the explosions this week reminded me of it.  It’s the story of the time that Older Son and his friends decided to explode my house, and then tried to convince me that he was just doing what I expected of him…
 
Exactly how far is a Mom supposed to go to promote education and instill the value of good grades?  I was faced with that problem this past school year when my son and his friends decided to blow my house up…all in the name of a grade.
 
I could see the local paper now:
 
Dateline:  Kids blow up house for grade
Three high school kids blew up a home when their teacher offered an extra credit opportunity making a satirical video depicting current topics.  When their script involved blowing up a structure, the students didn’t think twice. Older Son, a resident of the home, defers responsibility stating that his parents require he do whatever is necessary for his grades. His mom is quoted providing this parental caution “It may seem unnecessary, but I implore all parents to articulate to their children how far they can go, even to raise a grade.”
 
I’ve experienced first-hand (what parent hasn’t?) how kids can take what you say and twist it and change it and manipulate it and the next thing you know they’re blowing your house up.  Where did I go wrong?  Well, yes, in ever teaching them to speak in the first place but beyond that?
 
From the very first “NO” emphatically uttered by our (previously gloriously nonverbal) little angel we learn that our offspring will not only have a mind of their own, but will express it…regularly…loudly…  I used to try to put this behavior off on others.  I remember telling my youngest in our home “stop crying, honey, crying is for restaurants”.  And telling both boys when they went off to a friend’s house “now be as naughty as you can and get it out of your system before you come back home”.
 
But this was a whole new issue.  This wasn’t him doing the opposite of what I say (the occurrence I’m most used to).  This was my son doing what I had been telling him to do.  After all, I always tell him that no matter what his grade is, if extra credit is offered, just do it…


 

Older Son and Friend escaped by jumping off the back deck, phew
 
…so in the end he blew up the house, he got an “A”, and guess where I was.  Unless this is your first time reading this blog, you know.  I was in the kitchen baking.
 



Firecracker Red White and Blue Cake | www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe

Firecracker Red White and Blue Cake
(decorated in different color tones)

Firecracker Red White and Blue Cake | www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe



Baking In A Tornado signature | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics
                                                                               

Firecracker Red White and Blue Cake
                                   ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Ingredients, Cake:
1 box white cake mix 
3.9 oz pkg instant white chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
red and blue food coloring 
                                                                                      
Ingredients, Frosting:
16 oz softened cream cheese
1 stick butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk 
red and blue food coloring

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray bundt pan and dust with flour.
*Beat all cake ingredients except for food coloring.  Mix 1 cup of batter with red food coloring and 1 cup with blue food coloring.
*Pour the red batter into bundt pan, then carefully pour the white batter over the red, then the blue over the white.  Don’t mix colors together, just pour one over the other.
*Bake for 45 minutes or until it springs back when touched.  Cool for 15 minutes in pan before removing.  Cool completely before frosting.
*For frosting, beat cream cheese and butter together.  Mix in vanilla and milk, then gradually add powdered sugar (start with 1 1/2 cups, then keep adding till it’s at a drizzle consistency).
*Add red food coloring to 1/3 of frosting and blue food coloring to 1/3 of frosting.  Drizzle the frostings over the cake.

16 comments:

  1. lol, aaahhh, motherhood :) Gotta love it right?

    Thanks for stopping by and linking up this past weekend at the Unhinged Blog Hop.

    Gwen @ www.alittleunhinged.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Love it sometimes, other times you dream of being at the beach. Thanks for the Blog Hop, it was fun.

      Delete
  2. Beautiful cake, Karen! Oh the things we did when we were kids. :) Pinning this and sharing on Facebook. Thanks for sharing at Marvelous Mondays!

    Julie @ This Gal Cooks

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  3. What a lovely cake & great story! :) Love the "crying is for restaurants" comment! hahahaa! I followed you here from Julie's link party. Also, I’d like to invite you to come link up with me at my link party! I’d love it if you could stop by & link up some of your recipes! This is the link!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the invitation, I'll check it out next week.

      Delete
  4. What?! Is that literally your house going up in smoke and flames? Aiyiyiyiyiyiyi! My son would have received very good grades after a stunt like that. Because he would have been grounded for LIFE!!! Amazing how, years later after repairs have been affected, we can see the humour of a situation! Happy Independence Day to you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, yes, my house but a bit of video smoke and mirrors. . . it was a great project but it really was difficult to watch the house go up in flames, even knowing it was fiction!

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  5. HOW did I miss this? I remember this cake but not the video. Must have not seen it. :(
    TOO Funny, love the "explosion"
    Dawn
    Spatulas On Parade

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    Replies
    1. I have to tell you that I could have been very happy to have missed this video. The first time I saw my house explode my heart stopped!

      Delete
  6. Oh my...a lot of excitement at your house. Surprised you still allow them to use matches!

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  7. These cakes are beautiful and I LOVE the way you doctored up the cake mix!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you're gonna use a cake mix, you may as well make it your own.

      Delete
  8. That startled me. I missed this post first time around. Now we know this son is in college not blowing up anything!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, he COULD still be blowing stuff up, but at least it's not my house.

      Delete

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