I am overwhelmed with the response my post on bullying received.  Seems there are a lot more people with bullying issues then I ever imagined.

A lot has happened in the two months since my last post on this issue. Back in February, I was in contact with our school’s principal many times, as the incidents kept happening.  At that time she assured me that the child in question was being dealt with both at home and at school.  She also let me know that there was a team in place at school that was dealing with this problem and others (I can’t believe there were others in the same situation, but there were). The appropriate people at the school board had also been notified.

We are definitely now seeing some results.  The bully seems to have calmed down quite a bit both in the classroom and in the schoolyard. In fact on some days he seems like a different kid.  Seems he was after attention (perhaps not getting what he needed at home?) but didn’t have the tools to go about it the right way.  In fact in one of the sit downs my son and this boy had with the principal, when she asked him if he knew what he was doing was hurting my son, he said no but that he wanted to be friends with him. Steps were made then to keep the two of them at a distance until the boy could demonstrate better behaviour (i.e being kept in at recess, entering the school after my son).

Seems to have worked for the most part where my son and this boy are concerned. Unfortunately for this boy, he is now the target of a schoolyard/classmate bully (a very angry individual who needs more help than the school can provide, but who will get that help in the near future).  In fact, my son has been known to stick up for this boy, telling me that this new bully that has emerged is a 1000 times worse than this boy ever was. Maybe he has stopped bullying my son because he knows what it feels like now, or maybe he is now getting the attention he craved all along, I don’t think we will ever know.  I only know that I am relieved that progress is being made and the appropriate people took our concerns seriously, as they should have.

As for my son, he is happy that his parents have been sticking up for him and we are definitely starting to see more of the “old” N.  We are not completely out of the woods yet, but I do see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Just when I was trying to decide whether I had what it took to continue with this blogging thing, I discovered that I had received this lovely award from Lynn at Diary of a Turtlehead .  Wow, me an award?! I am flabbergasted and honoured. I know it may not be a big deal to some, but the timing couldn’t have been better!  So thank you to Lynn for welcoming this newbie to the world of blogging with the Honest Scrap Award.

The Honest Scrap Award Rules say that I must:

1. Brag about the award.
2. Include the name of the blogger who gave you the award and link back to that blogger.
3. Choose a selection of blogs that you find brilliant in honest content (see below)
4. Show their names and links and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with this award.
5. List at least ten honest things about yourself.

………then pass it on with the instructions!

So here goes. The 10 most honest things about myself:

1. I am petrified of my kids getting any sort of stomach flu. I do not deal well with vomit and if I could, I would pay someone to look after them when they are sick. The guilt I feel for feeling this way is unbelievable but I am anxious about this twenty-four hours a day!
2. I secretly wish that I could be a SAHM forever and never return to the workforce. Pipe dream I know.
3. I haven’t been to the dentist in….well I can’t remember because the last time was the worst experience of my life and I’m not anxious to do it again!
4. I used to smoke and haven’t touched one in over seven years.  Nor do I want to.
5. I am addicted to chocolate and could eat it morning, noon and night! In fact I have been known to hoard it too (just ask my husband!).
6. Magazines are also a weakness of mine (although have cut down considerably since I became a SAHM). Problem is I still buy them but never seem to have time to read them.
7. I haven’t slept next to my husband in 7 years. The joys of co-sleeping!
8. I watch Soap Operas. There I said it. My favs are Young & the Restless, Days of Our Lives and Bold & the Beautiful. Heaven help the person who messes with the PVR and deletes my soaps.
9. I love planning birthday parties, actually parties of any kind.
10. I never wanted to sign up to Twitter, Facebook or start blogging and thought my husband was crazy at the suggestion.  Turns out he was right.

And so I would like to pass on this award to the following bloggers I love to read and who inspire me with their writing or yummy recipes (or both) and their willingness to share their lives with their readers.

Christine at Coffees and Commutes

Chantal at Two Hands Full

Rebecca at A Little Bit of Momsense

Amanda at The Best Mom on the Block

Amber at Sweet Pea Treats

Now that Spring is here (and the rain!!) the busy birthday season has ended in our family.  Seems when we started having children, my sisters and I decided that all the grandchildren should be born in a three month span (years apart of course).  Starting in early January and ending near the end of March, we had 6 family birthday parties. Makes for a very busy but fun time, especially for me since I seem to be the family birthday cake maker, a hobby I love to do.

As a result, this poor blog of mine has been neglected.  I still haven’t figured out how to do it all and this other hobby of mine seems to be the first thing that gets shoved to the back burner.  But I did want to share some pics of the cakes that helped put smiles on my nieces, nephew and children’s (even my Dad) faces on their special day.

Optimus Prime and Bumblebee birthday cake

My nephew is a huge Transformer fan so I incorporated his two favourites, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee into his cake.  Turned out pretty well I think.

Next up was a Tinkerbell themed birthday cake for my daughter’s 4th birthday. Cake was decorated with buttercream icing with flower and butterfly accents.

Tinkerbell inspired birthday cake

March was a busy, busy month for birthdays.  We had 7 family birthdays, 4 of which required my services.

Strawberry Shortcake birthday cake

For my daughter’s “twin” (my niece who was born 8 days after my daughter), I was requested to come up with a Strawberry Shortcake cake.  Since I have yet to attempt to make figures myself, I relied on some plastic figures I  found at the toy store for the Strawberry Shortcake element. The cake was iced using buttercream icing with fondant accents.

Strawberry Shortcake Cake with figures

My Dad’s birthday was next and although his cake was simple, it was no less meaningful as he is a huge baseball fan.

Baseball birthday cake

Next up were cakes for my son and niece, who were born on the same day, one year apart. So far, planning their birthdays hasn’t become a logistical nightmare!

For my niece’s 6th birthday, she wanted a flowers and butterflies themed cake and this is what I came up with. Again I used buttercream icing and fondant accents. I’m not brave enough to cover the entire cake with fondant yet. Unfortunately, I had also created a flower and butterfly fondant spray which didn’t survive the trip to the party ;(

Flowers and Butterflies

We had a Star Wars Jedi Training party for my son’s 7th birthday (a post on the party details is in the works) and I decided to attempt a Death Star.  It’s not my best work, but my son loved it!

Star Wars Death Star birthday cake

Hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as I enjoyed creating the cakes.