And the Ants Came Marching In

It all started when they found out they could buy 100 gummy fish for $1.99 at Marc’s. (I would have loved to have seen the lady’s face at the store when they called, during class time and said, “How much is a gummy fish?” The boys later explained, they were transferred several times — and heard lots of music.) And then, a box of jello for $.88 cents. The total cost, with spoons, plastic bags, is around $.33 cents for one Shark Bite — blue Jello, in a plastic bag, with a gummy fish. So imagine their excitement when I found bulk packages of jello, 28 ounces, taking the cost down to $.19 cents per Shark Bite.

So, today, was the day to make the Shark Bites for the Mini Mall. The huge 28 ounce package of blue jello allowed us to crank out 129 shark bites in two hours. (The box came in a bundle of 12 28 ounce packages — enough for 288 Shark Bites.) Even Batman and Robin helped — the two little brothers — by opening the empty bag, and putting the gummy fish in. They didn’t even eat one — not one!!! (We know — we had to keep track of every single item in the inventory.) They will be paid — according to contract obligations.

So, the large, 28 ounce package meant that we had a huge amount of jello to make in one batch. This required using every large vessel I had in my kitchen to hold the 4 quarts total jello that each package yielded. When you’re working with quantities like this, it is difficult to find a good stopping point. When you have a little left in bowl — not enough to make one Shark Bite — it’s just so easy to say — “let’s just make one more batch.”

There were drips, there were drips, and the ants where everywhere. They showed us no mercy.

The plastic bags do not seal well, in the hands of 11-year-old boys — and so, lots of leakage, — can I just say — it was a mess. But we pulled through. It was actually fun — as evidenced by the fact that the 5 and 3-year-old never left the table, and helped without whining — which is really, incredible, if you think about it.

We decided that freezing them would be best — because I do not have room in my refrigerator for 129 shark bites. (126 — 3 casualties) I have a deep freezer in the basement, and there they sit. Waiting for tomorrow’s sale at 1, when they will be transported, via cooler, to the school playground. My neighbor graciously offered to watch Batman and Robin for me to that I can help with the one hour set-up and sale.

Depending on sales results tomorrow, we may or may not be making more of these. And like I said yesterday. I’ve never been so busy NOT HELPING my son.