We celebrated Michelle’s birthday with an age old tradition. That, obviously, being the one of making a hippopotamus out of Rice Krispy square mix. How does one fashion a hippopotamus out of Rice Krispy square mix? Well, allow me to take you on a trip through the extraordinarily simple process that you too could follow.

First, the ingredients:

50 ml (1/4 cup) margarine or butter
1 package (250 g, about 40) regular marshmallows or 5 cups miniature
2 ml (1/2 tsp) vanilla extract (optional)
1.5 L (6 cups) RICE KRISPIES cereal
Two eager beaver children who can’t stay still due to the fact that they probably need to pee
A temper

First, you must combine the butter and marshmallows into a microwave safe bowl and nuke the ever living crap out of it for two minutes. We chose to use miniature marshmallows due to a need for them later on in the project; we chose to use butter because, well, margarine sucks. When in the microwave, pause after a minute to absolutely ruin a large spoon mixing the butter and marshmallow mess together. It is not pretty! I think I lost my watch in there! Place back in the microwave for the remaining minute, and watch the mess try to achieve cognizance while attempting to flee the bowl. Laugh at its futile attempts mockingly. The last few microwave rays should render it quite dead by the end of the two minutes.

Remove the bowl from the microwave; careful, it’s hot! Whatever you do, do not touch it! Just mix in the Rice Krispies and ruin another spoon. Curse a lot when it gets on your hands. Do not take a swing at your kids! Yet! Still do not touch the mix in the bowl. If you do, you will be spending several precious minutes you could have been using to sleep or watch Lost licking your fingers and washing your hands. You haven’t watched Lost yet? It’s the only gosh didly darn reason to watch tv, for crying out loud! It’s in reruns, so you have plenty of time to catch up right now.

Let the crud cool! Now you can set the two eager beaver children on it. Here, Kristen and Rylee are molding some legs for the hippo to stand on, so if anyone said, “That hippo doesn’t have a leg to stand on,” they’d be wrong!



One of the trickiest aspects of this endeavor is keeping an 8 year olds’ hands out of the mix. You may have to raise your voice quite a bit, apparently, since 8 year olds are very, very hard of hearing. The only thing they seem to listen to is promises of treats or Vegas vacations. I’m not sure why Vegas, but I think it has something to do with the Blue Man Group.

In the end you have a devil hippo just dying to kill you in your sleep.



Kristen seemed very nonchalant about this impending death. I guess she didn’t care because it wasn’t her name that escaped from its lips as I put it in the freezer.

So, after surviving the sleepless night with a chalk circle and various rune symbols placed about my bed, the children and I surprised Michelle on the morning of her birthday with the Rice Krispy hippo.



Thankfully, Rylee got it before it got me. Another close one in the Mohninger household.

The rest of Michelle's birthday consisted of picking up seasons 8 and 9 of Friends courtesy of my mother and father, picking up her present from me (would you like to know what I got her? I bet you would!), a trip to see Barnyard, and rounded off with a trip to the Cheesecake Café. All in all, she said she had a wonderful day.

Oh, we did sit down to watch a movie recommended to us by Shannon. Yes, it’s my male friend with the feminine name again. The movie was about a family’s reunion at Christmas, and the hate they share for one of the bother’s girlfriend. Also, there is some other conflict such as a mother dying of cancer, some broken hearts and the breaking of some pretty expensive high heel shoes. After watching this movie, I can only come to the conclusion that Shannon is, in fact, a girl.

Happy birthday, hunny, and good night!