We got this letter in the mail from Tessa's school…

January 18, 2008

Dear Parents,

Enclosed you will find a paragraph written about your child and read at the P.O.P.S. (Power of Positive Students) assembly in January.

Every month students are chosen to be honored that represent the theme for the month.  This month we congratulate some of our students that have the Life Skill of "Integrity".

We are proud of our (school's name) kids and want you to know how special your child is to us.

Sincerely,

(School Secretary Name)

Here is the paragraph they wrote about Tessa…

"There is a girl in the kindergarten class who shows that she has integrity.  She knows what is right and wrong and wants to choose to do right.  This girls follows the procedures and is kind to the other children because it is the right thing to do.  In the classroom, she loves to learn.  She does her personal best on all of her work.  The other children enjoy playing with her because she is a happy, fun girl.  Thank you for your integrity, Tessa!"

From what Tessa tells me, after they read your name in the assembly, you get to go up to the front and sit in a special spot.  After the assembly is over, all the P.O.P.S. kids get a donut (very exciting if you are a kindergartner). 

Go Tessa!  We are proud of you!

**This post is more than two months late.  Emma's birthday was November 27, 2007.**

When it was time to plan Emma's second birthday we knew the only theme that we could possibly use would be Elmo, since Elmo is the love of Emma's life.

I still had the Elmo cake pan from Tessa's second birthday party… SCORE!

I got a cake mix.  Strawberry, because Elmo's insides are pink, right?

I mixed it up…

and poured it in the pan.  Ready to bake! 

Elmo looks worried.  He says, "Elmo wonders what you are doing to Elmo's head!"

Emma watched it bake for a while.

All done baking.

Now the tricky part… flipping it over onto a platter.

Time to frost.  Thank goodness for Wilton Ready-to-Decorate Icing.

I bought red and white icing early so I'd be prepared ahead of time.  The day of the party I got the icing out and realized… hey, Elmo's face isn't just red and white.  I need orange and black also.  Uh oh. 

Fact.   In my neck of the woods there isn't a single store that carries this particular icing in all four colors I needed (red, orange, black and white).  This means multiple trips to stores, after multiple calls to stores, all on the day of the party.  Awesome.

Fact.  Black icing is nearly impossible to find unless it is Halloween, so stock up in October if you plan to make this cake.

Okay, ready to start frosting Elmo.

Now frost some more.

And more frosting.  Almost done.

Ahhhh… finished.

Feed Elmo cake to Elmoid Emma.

Other uses for the Elmo cake pan include, but are not limited to…

Freeze water in Elmo cake pan for Ice day at preschool.

Can be used for play dough, although I doubt you'd ever have enough to actually fill up the Elmo cake pan.

**Emma's second birthday party post coming soon.**