Fine, I'm probably going to write "Viking"

Anna's preschool class is putting together a book about their parents' jobs and want us to fill out a description of our daily duties "even if you work at home," which, haha, okay. I mean, I don't want to give the impression that what I do isn't hard work, because it absolutely is and if you don't believe that I heartily invite you to get my two-year-old dressed and into a car seat in under half an hour, but I'm not sure how to distill full-time child-rearing into a few lines. "My training is in law, but I now spend most of my time picking things/children up and wiping things/children down while enduring a constant stream of Daniel Tiger songs in my head. Judging by the ratio of yoga pants to real pants at pickup time, there's a good chance it's the same thing your mom does all day." Very illuminating. Although to be fair, if I were to accurately describe the job I had when Anna was born, it would be "I read through files. Sometimes we have to wait for a new batch of files so I mess around on the internet. I drink a lot of coffee because it gives me a reason to stand up and walk to the kitchen." So I guess I'm really just feeling sad that I'm not an astronaut, is what I'm saying. Maybe when I draw the picture of myself at work I will add some astronaut gear. I'm feeling a lot better about this situation already, thanks guys!

Aaaaaaaaaaanyhoodle. One of my duties is over-documenting my children's birthdays, so I'd better get back to work. I made Ivy a cake:

FUH-FWY.

It looks like her blanket:

I mean, in a sense.

Anna helped, of course...

...but soon decided she was more comfortable behind the camera, which means Cookbook #95: Chocolate From the Cake Mix Doctor (Anne Byrn, 2001) is the first in this entire project to an action shot associated with it:

Space helmet just out of frame.

Provenance: Mom. Previous recipes on this blog: none. Flavor: Chocolate Orange cake. Deliciousness level: very high. For my feelings on this line of books, please see my previous Cake Mix Doctor entry. (Or don't, and I will just tell you that my feelings are positive.) Maybe I should list my job as "Cake Mix Doctor"? Or is Anne Byrn the only Cake Mix Doctor and I'm more of a Cake Mix Physician Assistant, carrying out her orders? Hmm. Don't worry, I'll get this whole thing sorted out.

We had a nice family party. There were many things to put on tortillas.

Also the option to forgo toppings entirely.

It's her party and she'll eat nothing but flour if she wants to.

There was unwrapping.

And sleepiness.

And, as mentioned, cake.

It was good to see everyone. This weekend gave my parents not only a chance to visit the kids, but also to tease me about my deep spiritual connection to IKEA, in belated defense of which I say: this straight-up Viking first name didn't write itself on my birth certificate, wiseguys.