An Eventful Weekend

Happy Chinese New Year!
For 7 years Ben and his high school cronies have been celebrating Chinese New Year. They constructed a Dragon head and body to parade around the city. The thing is pretty impressive. They have been using the same dragon head (made from paper mache and chicken wire) and adjusting to be the head of the animal for every year (pig, dog, rooster, ox, etc). Apparently that same paper mache head gave up the chinese-ghost this last year and Caron made a really awesome one out of fabric for 2009!

The times I have been with them we went to UVU or BYU campus and the public response has been fairly positive. This year they choose the movie theater at Jordan commons. And who is at Jordan commons theater on a friday night? EMO TEENS!! The intial reaction from the crowd wasn't so supportive. I think it was Melinda that figured out that if she (who was the head at the time) chased them ..... it became funnier. :) So lots of screaming teen girls and a group of emo boys with mohawks and stretch pans even joined in!
Ben with the dragon head... (the eye is kinda falling off)
After ward we returned to Carons place and partook in chinese pot luck. Ben made Peanut chicken stir fry. VERY good.
Saturday:
These are my dogs. They are strange. Reggie is camped out in the bed that was supposed to be for tally but claimed it as his own. A year later .... it is NASTY. So i tossed it next to the door to remind myself to throw it out. Sure enough.... Reg is still camped out in it. Maybe i'll figure out some way to wash it. We bought Tally her own bed and i picked a small one that she fits in pretty snuggly ...thinking that Reg wouldn't try to claim it -- however yesterday I caught him sitting on it.. his butt barely fits in it.
Maybe just a little small....
The Shark Project.
Okay... These shark cupcakes were for Ben's work party that was 'tropical themed'. These dang things are so labor intensive I would advise against making them.
The whole thing is a calorie BOMB!

Cook up some cupcakes and then cut a twinkie at a slant, glue to cupcake with frosting and shape the face a little.
(Invite your little brother over to eat the shark butts so you are not temped too)
Freeze em! Rock hard. This is key. You'll then warm up some gray frosting in the microwave so that it's not face meltingly hot -- but warm and liquidy. Then dip those suckers!
This... is.... hard. If your twinks are not frozen everything starts to sag and come apart in the warm frosting. So build just a couple extra for you to screw up on.
I know it looks like i skipped a step here.... but after the dip-a-shark is dry (not a bad idea to freeze them again). You'll add the blue water frosting (DON'T USE WHIPPED FROSTING ON ANY OF THESE PROJECTS), Coca chips for eye, fruit roll up for mouth and white frosting for teeth. (oh, and the fin is a thin mint cut in half...ad that before you dip it)
Because these things are so time consuming to make only make like 6 and then do the rest of the cupcakes as white doughnut light savers things, and under the sea gummy deals.
The best part of this project was the son of Ben's boss - about 9 years old - came up stairs during the work party for a drink and we offered him a shark. The look on his face made the whole thing worth it! ....".... okay.... I can do this again".

Oh - and i won these cheese balls. Currently using them as dog treats.
Ben's head. Longer hair on his face then his head.
Cheese ball?
Cheese ball?
I know she's hairy. She has an appointment this week.