I hadn’t been in to volunteer in the classroom this year, yet. I’m not sure how that happened, but it became immediately apparent when I walked in and was struck—as I always am—but how HUNGRY so many of these kids are for attention and to understand where I’ve come from. Are you Monkey’s mom? Really? Does he have a dad, too? Wait, he has TWO DADS? And a mom? And his stepdad HELPED? On purpose? Did you bake this cake yourself? And brought it in for US? And you brought candy, too? Can we eat some? Really?
One little boy told me that the cake was “gonna be so tight” after they finished decorating it. I agreed, and hoped that means something good. It seemed like it probably did.
I slipped extra fruit roll-ups to the kids who looked like they’d died and gone to heaven when I told them they could have one. And I whispered to Monkey that he could have a treat at home, later, if he didn’t fuss over it. He didn’t.
When I left the house, I had this:
(Notice the skeleton in the corner, the last remaining crew member. Arrrrrrr!)
I got all set up in the classroom, and then the teacher started sending the kids back to the decorating table in groups of four.
“Oh, no!” wailed one little boy, upon beholding the cake. “It’s BROKEN!” He was upset about the mast. I showed him how Otto had broken it on purpose—this was to be an underwater shipwreck, after all—and how he’d even dabbed some hot glue on the break to make sure it didn’t break all the way. He was very relieved. “Can I put some sharks on top of the ship?” he asked, then. When I said of course he could, all was right with the world.
“Are we going to get to eat it?” asked one little girl. I reminder her that the cake goes to auction, and everyone should tell their parents to bid on the cake so that the class could have it back. Monkey piped up that I should bid on the cake, and I chuckled, thinking about the money I’d already spent on candy and frosting and everything else. And then another little girl said she was going to bid, because she had a whole dollar at home.
After everyone had had a turn adorning our sunken pirate ship, I cleaned up the table and packed up my things. And then I asked the kids to gather round and let me take a picture of all of them with the cake. While they were assembling I thanked them for doing such a great job decorating, and told them I couldn’t have done it without each and every last one of them. There were several shy smiles I caught, then, between the hoots and hollering of asking when they could eat it.
When I turned the cake in to the auction, it looked like this:
(It’s been underwater a really long time, y’know.)
I think it’s the most awesome cake I’ve ever seen.
Happy Love Thursday, mateys.
I’ve never seen a sunken ship that was so…loved.
Good job!
I think that’s the most awesome cake I’ve ever seen too!!!! :) What a wonderful story and great experience! My K monster is a couple of years away from “real” school but I do look forward to these types of things! Great job Monkey & Class!!!!
It’s beautiful. I hope it gets bought back by the class parents they deserve to have their cake and eat it too.
Fantastic cake – and definitely should be bid on and returned to the artists for consumption. [not at all because maybe, just maybe, it would not be properly appreciated but less intelligent beings…]
So awesome! If it doesn’t get the Highest Bid Evar it’s because old people (er, parental units) just don’t appreciate fine art.
Oh, man … I miss all the fun parts … stupid annual reviews …
-otto
Do they take orders? I have a turning-3-year old who would LOVE a birthday cake that looked like that…
What I love most about that cake is all of the effort that went into it. Those shy smiles you caught are the best.
That really made me smile. Maybe even a little tear to my eye. I love the magic that comes from days like that.
That cake is AWESOME – wish I had thought of that when I had the author of How I became a Pirate last year.
and some days I leave my school in tears at how some kids don’t get any attention at home – good or bad – it breaks my heart.
Haha that looks great!
Every time you talk about the kids in Monkey and Chickadee’s classes, it breaks my heart a little bit, and I want to give them hugs. And feed them.
It’s the most awesome cake I’ve ever seen, too. :) What a great story.
(And thanks for supplying us with the pictures I rudely demanded yesterday.)
Wow – this cake turned out Awesome. The winner of the auction is so lucky!!
What a great cake! Having seen underwater shipwrecks up-close and in person (granted, they were WWII battle ships) I can verify that they captured the effect perfectly!
Great job kids! :)
That is the “tightest” cake ever. They did a great job. Looks like it was a lot of fun!
~Aunt P
Lord, woman, you made me all teary and actually miss teaching. That is indeed, a “tight” cake, what with all the undersea bling, yo. I would buy that cake. In a heartbeat.
Great follow up yesterday’s blog. I have one comment:
Aargh!
Can you fix it so that I submit the high bid at the auction?That way I can donate it to the class that decorated it.
Not only is that cake “tight” but it’s phat as well. I am particularly excited over the wee canon.
I was doing okay with just tears in my eyes until I read your dad’s comment. Now I need to go find some tissues.
I agree with Aly. Mir’s dad is tighter than the cake.
Wait, does that work? I’m not sure how to use “tight” when it doesn’t mean “constricting”.
Happy Love Thursday, Mir’s Dad. :)
Aww, I love your family, and today I love dad most of all. You guys are great!
I’m going into a diabetic coma just looking at it.
That, of course, means it’s the most awesomest cake EVAH!
I have a great Dad already…but your is so awesome that I’d like to share. So…I’ll share mine if you share yours. I’ll be waiting patiently for your response. You are truly the “tightest” Mama around!
I’m in both of my kids’ classrooms weekly and it’s amazing how just a little extra TLC, a “Great job!” or a high-five can add such a sparkle to a child’s eye. I always try to remember that my positive words might be the only ones some of these kiddos hear all day. I make the children tow the line, but based on the gazillion hugs I get every day I’m there, I’m pretty sure that they forgive me :)
That is fantastic!!! Everyone did such a great job.
That is a great cake! Nice job.
Indeed.
It’s BEUUUUUUTIFUL !!!, and I bet it’s yummy as well.
Well, Mir’s dad, you better just bid EXTRA HIGH just to be very very sure that you win it. I wonder how much that would be?
That does look pretty wicked. Nice!
Sigh. Mir, I have SUCH a crush on your dad.
You will follow up and let us know what happens at the auction, won’t you?
You’re both pretty AND a fabulous mom, Mir. I love being a mom, too. Imagine how dull our lives would be without our little rugrats. :-)
Sydney and I just finished assembling the Valentine’s goody bags for her class. It’s so much fun to do things like that together.
Monkey is a lucky boy and we are both very lucky gals.
Mmmm. That looks GOOD.
Fantastic job. Kudos to you!
I about lost it when I read the “its gonna be so TIGHT” comment… it got me thinking of ways us “old” people might have viewed it at 8 or 9:
– Tubular!
– Gnarly!
– Awesome!
– bitchin’!
– far out!
– cool beans!
– the shizit!
– Dope!
– Fli!
It was all those, and more!
I never thought the sight of so much gummi candy could bring tears to my eye. That’s a beautiful cake.
You done good. Real good.
Awesome! Sounds like all your time and hard work really paid off in a memorable and delicious experience for the kids. AND for your blog readers – thanks for sharing!
The cake looks awesome. I could not even imagine eating it though–this after I went in to help decorate cookies today and watched a boy lick his knife then proceed to try and stick it back in the can of frosting. With all the coughing and wiping, and licking of fingers, I may never eat anything not decorated by anyone else again. :)
You are brilliantly demented Mir. And a good mother.
That is the best cake e-vah!
Nice job, good imagination and the children sounded like they had a great time. I can’t believe that you didn’t have any finger marks or frosting missing. Well behaved kids.
This would have been a highlight in anyone’s day – big or small. Amazes me about the lack of nutrition, especially
given my cousin’s perspective as a pre-kindergarten teacher in an area where it demands good teachers to step in and I’ve seen so many do that, along with some wonderful caring parents such as you. No, many kids that are at my cuz’s
school are not even sure who to call what.
That is one beautiful cake with an inspiring message in your post as well.
Yes, you are so right – ‘tight’ equals high praise these days – oh the vocabulary that starts to come out of these
sweet little people is fascinating, (and I am sometimes
in need of asking too) been through the ‘tight’ days :) And
hope that I’m way past the Snoop Doggy schnizzle in the gizzle, that was hard, hard on my nerves. Big time.
Thanks