It's Perfect!!

God has blessed me with an 8 year old!

My oldest turned 8 on Sunday,

so I got to share Mother's Day with him

(but he IS the reason I am a mom, so its ok)

As you know, every year, I make the kids cakes.

R couldn't make up his mind.

He started thinking about it and talking about it

2 months ago.

His ideas were all over the place too:

football & baseball

scouting with a bb gun and bow & arrow

waterslide cake

Angry Birds

Tae Kwon Do cake 

So the week of,

I started getting a little impatient and told him

if he didn't decide, I would!

So he made a list and went through and methodically

crossed out ideas.

He settled on a cake with waterslides.

OY!

So I started hunting the internet

and consulted another cake buddy.

I got a couple of ideas

and was doing lots of figuring,

in my head.

Then my sweet boy,

presented me with this:

His cake design,

complete with side views 

and dimensions

(look closely at the top of the page)

Um, ok, I can do that.

Then we decided to mix things up.

He is not a "huge" cake eater...

so I suggested an ice cream cake.

(why keep things simple?)

I started off with a plan and modified along the way,

then regretted said modifications.

Let's just say

frosting an ice cream cake with 

cool whip then trying to decorate with canned icing

(which I never use)

Not my best idea!!

And trying to "figure things out" while the cake is 

sitting on the counter waiting on me...

not the best idea either!

Ya think!!

Here is a pictorial of how it all went down! 

The players:

Assistant Coach: 

Luckily, I have 3 pans the exact same size...

These two held cake:

The third one: 

The ice cream.

I got creative here.  

My oldest's favorite ice cream flavor is 

mint chocolate chip

(yet one more way he is like his daddy)

The two of them are the only ones who like 

that flavor, so I talked him into a second flavor too.

Cause there is no way I am letting him eat a whole cake

by himself and it just wouldn't be nice to 

have a cake flavor that no one else

(but dad)

likes (like his siblings).

(even though I get a cake that daddy doesn't like)

Anyways, we settled on

half mint chocolate chip

and 

half chocolate chip cookie dough

Here it is:

Pop this bad boy in the freezer while the cake cooks and cools.

Unfortunately, I was so excited about how the cake look assembled,

and pre-iced, 

I showed daddy but forgot to take a picture to show you guys!

Sorry bout that!

So again a reminder of the design:

And the result:

Not my favorite cake...but it was exactly what 

my child drew.

I was really proud of how close I got to his design.

However, that was the only good picture of the cake,

cause the melting started quickly!!

Here you will notice the trim is melting off the back left side of the cake.

(why is it the baby's head on the far left is the only thing in focus?)

Hahahah!!!
The birthday boys is attempting to cut his frozen, ice cream cake.
The cake was still VERY frozen,
however, as you can see...
the trim is melting all down the side of the cake.

 Here are both flavors of the ice cream.

And here you can see just how bad and ugly the outside got.

 UGH!

But as I was cleaning up the kitchen afterwards,

I asked the birthday boy what he thought of his cake.

And he literally exclaimed:

It's Perfect!

Well there ya go!

Good enough for me.

New Found Love

A couple of days ago,
 I told you guys about those

amazing State Fair Apple Dumplings

we had last week.

Then a few days ago,

my sweet sister over at

McWonderful Life

posted about her latest food discovery

Apple Pie Parfait

I had all the ingredients and wanted to give it a shot.

But it took me 2 days to actually do it.

First, I did not have the required granola.

So what'd I do?

I made some!

I used this basic recipe but tweaked a bit.

So it turned out more like this:

3 cup rolled oats (all I had left)

1 cup wheat germ

1 cup flax seed

1/4 cup homemade brown sugar

healthy tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup veg oil

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup water

Combine dry, combine wet.

Mix all together.

Spread in jelly roll pan.

Bake at 400° for 40 min

Stir every 10 min.

DONE!

Then I had planned on those sweet little apple parfait thingies after

dinner Tuesday night, 

but after single-handedly eating

about 2 lbs of crab legs

I was STUFFED

and not in the mood to make dessert!

I decided to give it a shot at lunch the next day

and instead of apple pie filling

I just used the strawberries in our fridge.

R & J thought they had died and

gone to parfait heaven.

R loved, loved, loved

the granola.

They each had 2 parfait cups

and some 

"good for you" nuggets

for lunch!

The kids liked it so much,

I decided to do the apple pie ones for 

dessert that night.

They were not as pretty as my sisters.
but...

OH.MY.STARS!

My version of her recipe:
1 small apple per person
~1/4 sugar
~1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 tsp cinnamon (or more to taste)
homemade granola
greek yogurt (1/2 plain, 1/2 vanilla)

Saute apples in cinnamon, sugar & butter,
til desired firmness.
Layer in with yogurt & granola.

ENJOY!

I have not had a dessert that good in 

a LONG TIME.

And dare I say - 

I think it was better than those

State Fair Dumplings!

Hubby said it was a toss up for him!!

And its a tad bit healthier than those dumplings.

I have a 6 year old!!! (again)

Our second born, J, was VERY close

to being a St. Patty's day baby.

But I couldn't take it anymore...

so he didn't make it.

We celebrated his 6th birthday this week!

I teased him all day the previous day,

telling him his cake wasn't finished,

his presents weren't wrapped,

he couldn't turn 6, 

I wasn't ready!

We laughed and joked but

dern it, 

he still turned 6

on Thursday!

He is our easy going,

very docile child.

He is very easy to please

and 

very eager to please.

Daddy took the day off 

and we decided on a day full of fun!

We *were* going to 

hit a special breakfast at SeaWorld,

then spend the day there.

Then take him to

the Rainforest Cafe for dinner.

We discussed all of this with him at dinner

two nights before his birthday,

then he informed us,

nope, I don't think I want to do that.

Ok, then what do you want to do?

I want to go to Peter Piper Pizza

(kinda like Chuck E Cheese - see I do know how to spell it!)

Instead, we took him to a new place 

that had been recommended to us.

The problem was

its Spring Break down here!

So this place was PACKED!!!

But it was NEAT!

Its called Incredible Pizza

(or something like that) 

and

it had EVERYTHING.

Indoor go-karts,

R got to drive his own car


Here is my passenger


Haha - you can't even see R in the lead car!!
(Ghost driver)

indoor bumper cars,
(which we did but didn't get pictures of)

indoor glow-in-the-dark putt putt,

Our daughter has her sports mixed up, but she has great form!

BIRTHDAY BOY!!!

tons of video games

and kiddie rides for the babies,

Feeding peanuts to zoo animals.

Wishful thinking...

I let her climb up on the end of the skeeball machine - but it didn't help.

AND

duck pin bowling!!


 
Again - she has a good form.

We had to convince the baby that he

was NOT allowed to WALK 

down the lane and knock down the pins!

This was J's favorite - they played twice.

Then a pizza/salad/taco/dessert/spaghetti buffet bar.

And it wasn't outrageously priced.

So that is where we went...

we spent 5 HOURS

there.

My feet hurt when we were done!!

Then the birthday boy decided he wanted 

steak and mashed potatoes 

for dinner.

So we went home and did just that.

Like I said, 

easy to please.

I enjoy doing things for my kids

and 

for whatever reason

(I think I got it from my mom)

I make the kids birthday cakes every year.

I started off easy...

but have gotten more and more daring

and more creative.

I am not scared to try new things,

but do stress out over each cake.
(ask my husband)

I do realize at the end of the day,

as long as they like it,

that is all that matters.

When I asked J a few weeks ago

what kind of cake he wanted,

he said - 

"I don't care,surprise me,

but no pink!"

Then he later asked for a strawberry cake,
so I bought the ingredients,
then when I informed him it would be pink,

he QUICKLY changed his mind!

Turkey!

My boys are obsessed with Skylanders.

So I jumped on-line 

(where I get my inspiration)

and saw that someone made a 

portal of power cake.

So...I figured...

here goes nothin!

I decided to get creative with the inside too.

My ultimate goal was to make the cake

look like the "thing" on the left!

Using homemade marshmallow fondant!

I was pleased with how it turned out...

I think I succeeded, cause look at that child's face!

In our house, the birthday kid, gets to make the first cut.

This is a tradition that they ALL look forward to!

J had a hard time with the fondant though,

he said it was too hard

and later it was referred to as "plastic"

by my father-in-law.  

He asked if you were supposed to eat it.

He didn't...

And the innards.

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!!!

I have decided I am going to use you

to help keep me accountable on my goals.

So here goes!

This Week's Goals:

1) Get up before kids - check

2) Get workout in before kids get up - check

(only if the kids have to stay in bed longer cause of talking to early - details)

3) Start reading Dave Ramsey's book - check

(first 45 pages read so far - 200 more to go)

So far so good!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful

Valentine's Day.

Well, I threw our "menu plan" out the window...

(That didn't take long!)

and opted for something a little different last night.

I decided we needed to do something special.

Started out with just a special dessert.

Then it morphed into a special dinner.

Then that morphed into a  

quiet (kinda) dinner for 2

after we fed the kids.

I went to the store to get steaks and lobster tails.

And the fixins for a small cheesecake.

Got enough for everyone.

Then as we walked from the grocery store

to the UPS store (to ship something),

we passed a local 

"Take and Bake Pizza Place"

They had a picture advertising a 

heart shaped pizza for $7...

hmmm...that is interesting.

So on the way back from the UPS store, 

we stopped in.

And wound up with their 

Sweetheart Special.

(disclaimer - the following pictures are mainly for my 

dad - I thought he would get a kick out of them, 

so just enjoy!)

Un-baked Heart Shaped Pepperoni Pizza

\

Baked Heart Shaped Pepperoni Pizza

Un-baked S'mores Dessert Pizza

Final product:

And I got this bright idea to feed the kids first

then put a movie on

and daddy and I could actually enjoy a (semi) quiet

dinner.

I think the S'mores pizza was a hit based on the 

resulting s'mores pizza faces...

and chocolate teeth!

(and as you know from previous posts - 

the quality and focus of pictures are hit or miss

so do your best to kinda enjoy)

Once we got the kids situated we moved on to...

The adult menu:

Parmesan Crusted NY Strip

Broiled Lobster Tails

Salad with Blue Cheese & Cranberries

Baked Potato

and

Individual Key Lime Cheesecakes

with Strawberry Sauce

and

Pink Champagne

Turned out PERFECT!

All of it.

The lobster tails were the BEST I have ever had

(I can't tell you the last time I had lobster, but these were AMAZING!)

The cheesecakes were a combination of recipes.

I used the ingredients from one and used 1/3 of the recipe

(math came in handy here)

and the cooking instructions from another recipe

and 

IT WORKED!

Definitely will be done again.

Pre-baked cheese-cup-cakes

Final product:

The kids were great, 

except for the occasional uninvited guest appearances

by the baby/bird/lap monkey.

The kids got a combined present of a fish tank.

And their goal is to have one like their Uncle Jack.

BIG goal, but gotta start somewhere.

Here is what they are aiming for:  

 Every one worked together to get the aquarium up and running.

(Is this where the cord goes?)

(J & L rinsing the rocks for the tank)

More rock rinsing...didn't know we could fit this 

many people in that little bathroom!!

Or that rinsing rocks could be a 

spectator sport!

The full, yet uninhabited, aquarium.

We will keep you posted on the fish as we acquire and name them.