Cupcake

You know about a month ago, when I had that brilliant idea to pick up a "cheap" blow-up pool for my darling daughter, I never imagined what a pain it would become. You see, here's the dilemma, it is a rather large pool (holding 264 gallons), therefore it isn't something we want to drain and fill each day, but by day two or three the water starts to look a bit nasty. Jason and I did some reading on-line and found ways to "shock" the pool so that any nasties in the water would be obliterated. The first night I used a home remedy of bleach and water, which didn't really seem to do anything. So, after draining it, scrubbing the bottom, and then refilling it (all of which was horribly painful for Abby to watch), Jason set off for some pool supplies.

I won't go into how much he spent, but I will tell you it was about four times what the darn silly pool cost in the first place. Yesterday was the day when he was checking "levels" and when things weren't right (which required yet another trip to the store) Abby and I were left at home to wait. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but Abby was ready for her swim, and hearing that there was going to be a delay sent her over the edge.

My predicament became: How was I going to distract Abby for the amount of time needed to get that blasted silly pool ready? That's when it came to me, the only thing that could pull Abby from her heartbroken state (besides swimming) - baking. Things quickly turned around when I suggested we make some cupcakes. Now, for things such as this I'm usually a "from the box" type of girl, but since we didn't have any boxed cake mixes we went all out, and with the help of Betty Crocker, we made some cupcakes from scratch.

Abby was thrilled to be my sous chef and waited patiently until her stirring skills were required. We really had a fun time, and as the pan of cupcakes filled up we realized we even had enough for a small cake. I wasn't worried about how they would come out, the point was to distract her, and that they did. By the time we were all finished Jason had the pool in tip-top shape and ready for its swimmer.

Abby had a great time swimming, but after about an hour I'd had enough of the heat, so I set about trying to get her in the house. This is always the tricky part. Usually she is yelling for all to hear, "Five more minutes!" and "No! Don't wanna go in the house!" With neighbors out grilling I knew this could turn ugly pretty quickly - that's when, once again, the cupcakes came to the rescue. They needed decorating after all, and with a happy wave to her pool we were off to slap some frosting and sprinkles on those cute little guys. They'd actually turned out surprisingly well, they weren't the typical airy cupcakes from the box, but reminded me more of a pound cake version - yum. Abby did a stellar job of distributing the red, white, and blue sprinkles and then it was time for her to enjoy. The only problem was that, according to her, they weren't finished. Her cupcake needed one more thing - a candle.

I was in a cooperative mood, and it was the nation's birthday (and Bruiser's as well), so I pushed that candle into the center of her cupcake and lit it. I suggested that we sing to Bruiser, but she would have none of that, it would be "Happy birthday to Abby" or nothing at all. She clapped, blew out the candle, and enjoyed her treat - and we went about the rest of our day.

Which brings us to today. After dinner I suggested that Abby have a cupcake for dessert. She was all for that - if it had a candle. It seems that we've started a bit of a trend around here. In Abby's mind, every cupcake needs a candle. Luckily, we still had the blue candle from yesterday, so once again, I pushed it into the middle, lit it, and sang (you guessed it) "Happy birthday to Abby." How could I not, she was being so cute, and she was so excited about such a simple thing.

So here's a word of advice: If you ever have Abby over, and you are serving cupcakes, make sure to have a candle ready. I can guarantee her smile will be worth your efforts.

Now, isn't that sweet face worth a little candle?

Such a great big flame requires such a great big breath.

Success!