Show & Tell Friday -- Birthday Cakes

**Update -- In the comments someone wondered if I would share my modified recipes so if you are interested in one or all email me and let me know and I will email them to you. The four I make are: carrot, pumpkin, applesauce, and of course chocolate. Two are with cream cheese frosting and the others are with a cooked whipped frosting which isn't as sweet as buttercream.**

I really enjoy baking, especially taking a recipe and modifying it to make a more healthy version with whole wheat flour, alternative sweeteners, etc. In the beginning of this process I ended up with dry cakes or really flat cakes but over the years have perfected four cakes that I regularly make for birthdays that are very moist and tasty.

In addition to that I enjoy decorating birthday cakes. I grew up with birthday cakes that my Mom beautifully decorated each year and thankfully she has passed on her talent to my sister and me. I have carried on that tradition but only wish that I wouldn't have ever given the boys a choice of which cake to make. They typically find one on one of my favorite websites on my sidebar called "Coolest Birthday Cakes". It also is a little more difficult in that we have two birthday parties where I need to make more than one cake and that slightly decreases the fun of it. For the three boys birthday two weeks ago my sister was a sweetheart and offered to decorate a cake for Tank as I had been very tempted to buy one. It turned out beautifully and Tank loved it!

I am going to share the cakes from the past few months.

Our fall birthdays from the beginning of November. I was going to make Baby Boy a #1 cake but time got away from me so I just quick decorated the pumpkin sheet cake. (Not as if he cared). Missy Blue had a "dolly" cake in her favorite color.

I used an old Storybook Doll pan that my Mom used for one of my cakes.

Pete and Re-Pete selected jeep cakes. I wanted to make one large one but they couldn't agree on a color or flavor so I made two smaller cakes (one carrot and one pumpkin). I have found piping the icing on works great as it hides imperfections, although it also hurts your hand after awhile. My Mom helped me finish the orange one as I always run out of time. :( The black frosting was a pain and I found that it is better to start with chocolate frosting but I made cream cheese so ended up adding a bit of cocoa to make it black rather than the dark purple it was. It sure stains teeth though!

Here is the Thomas the Train cake my sister decorated for me. (Thanks so much Sara!) She decided to make it more exciting than the picture he had seen and so she made the tunnel out of rice krispy treats covered with frosting.


If you would like to see more Show & Tells visit Mary at Raising 4 Godly Men. Today she shares a spelling program that I have also found to be of great help.

How many??

A quick story for you...

Recently we stopped at Home Depot to pick up a few supplies. Upon getting everyone out of the van I heard a man make a loud noise leading me to believe something bad had happened. I turned to see what the commotion might be, hoping that my children were not involved, only to see nothing but John and my children with the man watching us. He then said, "How many do you have coming out of there? They just keep coming and coming." I was thinking, honestly, is that all? I shook my head, smiled and we walked on as normal with the man watching. No, we aren't clowns in the circus trying to fit as many into the little car as we can, although sometimes it does feel like it. :)

 

 

Happy 5th Birthday Tank!

Happy 5th Birthday Tank!

Your day has finally arrived! Tank has been counting down days along with his brothers since the beginning of December if not before. At times he was more excited about his upcoming birthday that he forgot Christmas was on its way. He was our first baby where we chose his birthday as I had a c-section. He could have been born on the 14th along with his twin brothers but we didn't want him to have to share and so selected this day which is my Grandma's birthday. It is interesting in that he seems to get his big brown eyes from her. As usual though he had a rough time on Wednesday having to wait for his day to arrive.

This morning he selected cinnamon rolls for breakfast (he wanted "sgetti" as he always requests but we will have that at the party on Sunday). We added more streamers around the house to make it more special for him so our house is full of color.

We have had a lot of fun looking through pictures and seeing how much everyone has changed. We found Tank frequently running around in just a diaper trying to get into the picture. He is a little chaotic and drives me crazy at times but is such a loveable little guy. He is kind of stuck in the middle in wanting to do what his older brothers do and yet also wanting to be with his little sister. It is tough being the middle guy once in awhile.

To get to know Tank a little better here are a couple of questions I asked in our Christmas newsletter and his responses.

What was your favorite thing we did this year?
“I like going to the Civil War.”  (re-enactment) Why? “Because it is so fun. Because I like the horses.”

What do you like to eat?
“I like to eat cucumbers and then I like to eat red peppers, green ones, orange ones, lellow(yellow) ones and jello”

Look at all of his dark hair! My only baby that had hair.

One of my favorites of Tank at 6 months

Always goofy for a picture. He had  a lot of blonde hair and right after this picture he decided to cut a big chunk out and it has never been the same.

My beautiful brown-eyed boy! Taken in Daddy's racecar, a favorite place to be.

Happy 7th Birthday boys!

Happy 7th Birthday Pete and Re-Pete!

It is birthday week around here and today the boys woke up to streamers draped along the the ceilings throughout the house and balloons scattered around. They couldn't wipe the grin off of their faces when they came into the kitchen this morning with all of the colorful decorations. I had birthday music playing and was singing to them but I guess they thought I was out of my mind and so I asked them. George confirmed that "You are crazy!" I think they need to lighten up!

Pete and Re-Pete turned 7 years old this morning at 8:22a.m. and 9:30 a.m. so for a short time they were not the same age. :) For breakfast they chose waffles so I made them with chocolate chips which were quite yummy, but then chocolate makes everything good! This morning they are taking it easy and watching a movie and were happy not to have to do chores. Not sure what the rest of the day will bring as the arctic air has moved in and so staying home is looking like a nice option, although we are supposed to have art class this afternoon. The big celebration will be on Sunday along with Tank whose birthday is Friday.

John and I keep telling the boys that they need to slow down and are not allowed to turn another year older but they keep growing despite our wishes.


The boys got a kick out of this picture as Pete was sucking Re-Pete's thumb. They did crazy things together at that age. :) Good thing I dressed them by color in those days otherwise I would have no idea who is who.


Pete and Re-Pete when we blocked them in behind anything we could find, in this picture the ironing board. They were not allowed in many areas of the house from ages 1 to almost 3 to keep our sanity.

One of my favorite pictures from when the boys were 4. Pete has his arm around Re-Pete.

Show & Tell -- Painting

We have been remodeling for the past 8 years now and so projects abound, although time for them is very lacking. I have always desired to have a homeschool room in the basement along with a family room. My husband put the flooring down maybe a year ago as he couldn't wait for me to decide on paint colors and to get it painted. Now, for those of you who know me I am one of the most indecisive people and if I make a decision it needs to be exactly what I envision or I will end up liking something better down the road. It very often happens that I have a picture in my mind of how I want something to look but yet I cannot find what I am looking for. And so, I have gone back and forth over paint colors for a year now and finally decided on what to do with the basement.

I absolutely LOVE bright colors and if you saw my house you would see that (our living room is red, dining room lavender and I won't name the rest) and so chose two colors. First  geranium leaf for the homeschool area and after I plugged that into the computer at Home Depot I found  tide pools (more muted than the words here) that coordinated for the family room area.

I really enjoy painting when I have the chance (although cleanup isn't so fun) and when the boys saw that we picked out paint they were excited and wanted to help. Now, George has helped out with mudding the drywall in the past and they have all helped Grandma Mason prime the walls back when I was supposed to paint but I wasn't so sure about having them "help" put color on the walls! I knew George could do it but once I let him do it I have three others saying "Why can't I?" and I figured we might as well let them try. Needless to say, it turned out fine. John gave them lessons on how to paint and they worked well together. I went behind and filled in any spots that needed a bit more paint and the job was done in no time with me ending up doing more of the cleanup than painting. They all enjoyed helping and had a good lesson in painting. Maybe next time I will get to paint and they can cleanup!

There will be cabinets and shelves along this wall which will break up the green a bit. It was hard to get a good picture of the other color so you'll have to wait until the room is carpeted and furnished -- hopefully soon! :)

For more Show & Tells please visit Mary aka Canadagirl at Raising 4 Godly Men

George was baptized!

New Years Eve our church often has a baptism service. It is so good to hear God's people testify of how He has worked in their lives and publicly obey Him in being baptized. George has wanted to be baptized for awhile now but has always been too afraid. This time when he heard Pastor announce the service he decided that he was ready. He went through a devotional with his Daddy on what it means to be baptized and wrote out a short testimony of when he was saved and why he wanted to be baptized. My best friend that I've had since middle school was also being baptized that night along with two of her children and that helped George not to be quite as nervous.

It was a moving service and my tears fell a few times. First when my friend told of how God has been working in her life, especially over the past few years during trials that many of us cannot imagine but yet God has given her strength and carried her and she is such an example with her uncomplaining spirit. Then as I watched my firstborn son I had an amazing feeling of pure joy as I saw him so happily obey the Lord without question. Oh, how I pray that George would always have that unquestioning faith and desire to please the Lord in all that he does.

3 John 1:4  - I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

We forgot to zoom in before taking this so it isn't very close and I also am not sure how well you can hear. This is what he said -- "I was saved when I was 5 years old. We were reading the book "A is for Adam" and I knew that I was a sinner and wanted to be forgiven. With Jesus as my Savior I try to do what He would do. I am being baptized because I want to obey God's command."

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