Laura has been after me for a while to let her decorate a cake. It all started when she saw a cake-decorating contest on t.v. I put her off as long as I could, but finally the day came that I could find no more reasons to say no. She was going to a Superbowl party on Sunday night and had an idea for a cake that would feature the two teams playing. So on Saturday she baked her cake and Sunday she decorated it. She had a wonderful time working on her project, and I had to admit that it wasn’t nearly as painful as I’d anticipated. In fact, she did everything by herself, all the way from mixing to baking to making the frosting. All in all, it was a positive experience for me, and I’m glad I finally gave in.

On Sunday afternoon the kids wanted to go play in the snow, and though I could not imagine going out in the snow (I have forgotten how to be a child, I think.), I did tiptoe out to check on them after a while.
Then I had to hurry back in to get my camera to capture the moment. While I was out there, I realized Miguel did not have any mittens on, so after taking the photo, I told him I’d go find him some mittens. Well! That’s when my job got tough. I pawed through the mitten basket, pulling out one mitten after another, not really looking for a matching pair, just wanting to find both a right and a left mitten in approximately the same size. Finally I had a handful of mittens, only to realize that every one of them was a right-hand mitten! Where were all the lefties??? Finally I was successful and not only found a right and a left, but they matched! But what to do with all the righties that I found? I don’t know. For now they’re lined up in my bathroom just for me to look at and laugh at them. Eventually I’ll drop them back in the mitten basket and set myself up for future frustration. Do any of you have organizing tips for large families with more mittens and boots than fit into normal coat closets? I could use a better system!