Cupcakes? Don't Ask Me Twice!

On Friday, the kids and I were running around, completing a variety of errands. One of the the places we were headed was Michael's, the craft store. As we pulled into the center that houses Michaels, Clover piped up from the back seat, "Hey, Blythe, look! New York Cupcakes."

She was right. It was an adorable little pink-and-white shop, and we were driving past it. This problem had to be fixed immediately!

I turned the car around in the parking lot, and headed back to the shop. We parked outside and peered in, entranced by the fluffy, cupcake-y goodness of the store. They even had a pink refrigerator.

"I wonder if they have mini cupcakes," I pondered. The kids suggested that maybe this was worth a quick look. You know, just to satisfy our curiosity.

Casually, like we had been planning this all day, we sauntered into the store. Our eyes grew wide. It was even better inside! No mini cupcakes greeted us, however. We were disappointed for a minute, and then caught a glimpse of the full size cupcakes. Oh man, they looked good.

I glanced down at the children. They looked up at me, knowing perfectly well that I was already eager to experience this cupcake situation, and that begging and whining would work against them. The waited to see what I would do.

"I'll make you a deal," I said. "If you guys pinkie promise to eat healthy lunches, then we can get cupcakes now and save them for dessert." What kid wouldn't take up that offer? They stuck out their pinkies, and we linked them, one at a time.

Then we got down to the Very Serious Business of deciding which cupcakes to get. Finally, Clover decided that she would go with lemon, and Neptune and I each got chocolate with butterscotch frosting.

Then, cupcakes carefully encased in a layer of plastic, we headed to Michael's. Before too long, we were home again, and all were eyeing the cupcakes. I whipped up lunch-- complete with apple slices and green beans for Clover, and blueberries and sugar snap peas for Neptune.

And after that?
Oh, then it was cupcake time!

At first they looked kind of like this:

But before too long, this is all that was left: