Daddy Time

I don't think I give him enough credit, but Wes truly is one heck of a dad, husband, confidant, friend, and so much more.  He gives unselfishly of his time and energy.  Whenever I can't take the pressure or my patience is faltering he's right there to meet my cry for help.  He supports me when I feel like I'm not such a great mom and gives me the encouragement to believe in myself again.  He listens to me whine and takes orders well!

He is the fun dad.  The one who rough houses with the kids like dads are supposed to do.  He's the one who initiates sports-related play so that I can stay inside and bake or cook.  He insists on giving me "me" time just when I need it most.  I'm a really lucky gal!  I love you, babe.  

Oh, and he's head of the Grammar Police, so he's taught me a thing or 2 over the years (I had a lot to learn!).  I thought of that because I would not have put that comma in between you and babe in the last sentence, but now I know better :)

These pictures are from 2 months ago, even though Colin is sporting some Christmas pajamas!  They were hand-me-downs from his cousin, so anything new must be worn immediately.  Incidentally, Sawyer's pj's didn't even come with matching pants, but they were also from his cousin, so who cares if they match!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake and Happy Birthday, Wes!

As I mentioned in my FYI Friday post, last Monday was Wes' birthday.  He's now not only older than me (well he always is) but now he's closer to 40 than he is 30.  That one hurts.  Not as much as I bet the big 4-0 will though!

I have a coworker who's birthday falls 2 days before his and I almost always bake her cake as well.  Year after year, Wes says he doesn't want me to make him a cake because I had to make hers, blah, blah, blah.  But who can have a birthday without cake?  That's sacrilegious!  So I donned my Betty Crocker apron and whipped up 2 cakes in 1 day.  That's how the big dogs do it.  I guess I'm officially a big dog.

   

I went with the old standby, one of our family favorites, a Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake.  I've made this about a half dozen times and each time it tastes slightly different than the last.  The key is all in the caramel.  You have to let it cook until you think it's reached the point of no return.  If you think it's burning, that's ok.  You're probably just reaching the finish line.  I've made it in the past when I didn't cook the caramel long enough and the icing lacked flavor.  Just seconds before the burning point, when it's deep golden brown, that's where it's at.

A terribly fuzzy picture of the birthday boy, but who could write a birthday post without so much as a blurry shot of the birthday boy himself?! 

Without further ado, the cake of all cakes, the lick-the-plate-clean-if-you're-a-2-or-5-year old, the cake that will add 5 pounds to your waistline and you won't care, the...

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake

{Print recipe}

Ingredients:

For the cake:

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
For the caramel:
4 tablespoons water
1 cup sugar1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt, kosher or sea
For the salted caramel icing:
1 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature
8 ounces or 1 package of reduced fat cream cheese, at room temperature
2-3  cups powdered sugar
1 cup salted caramel

Directions:
For the cake:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer two minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely before frosting.
For the caramel:

1. Combine the water and sugar in a deep saucepan and cook over medium heat. Stir together with a wooden spoon until the sugar is incorporated. Cover the saucepan and let it cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.

2. After 3 minutes, remove the lid, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Do not stir from this point on, but it is important to carefully shake the pan so that one area of the caramel doesn’t burn. Continue to cook until the caramel turns an even amber color then remove from the heat and let stand for about 30 seconds.

3. Carefully and slowly pour the heavy cream into the mixture. The mixture will bubble up significantly. Stir the mixture and add the butter, lemon juice, and salt. Stir until combined.

4. Measure 1 cup into a Pyrex measuring cup. Stirring occasionally, allow to cool until thick like molasses and warm to the touch, about 20 minutes. This recipes makes slightly more than 1 cup of caramel. You can reserve the rest for drizzling, like I did if you wish, or just eat it with a spatula!

For the caramel icing:

1. Bring butter to room temperature by letting it sit out for 1 or 2 hours. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy.

2. Sift 1-2 cups of powdered sugar into the butter/cream cheese mixture and beat to combine. Add 1 cup of the salted caramel and beat to combine. Sift remaining powder sugar, in 1/2 cup increments and beating between each, until you arrive at the thickness and sweetness you desire. I used somewhere between 2-3 cups. 

3.  Frost in between the layers and all over the top and sides.

Store at room temperature for optimal freshness.  When you store cakes in the refrigerator, they dry out.  This cake will still taste delicious, the cake part just won't be as moist.

And for a little extra birthday bonus, some good old rough-housing with 2 of his favorite monsters!

**Linking up to What's Cookin Wednesday.

Happy Easter (recap)

I feel like it's been much longer than a week and a half since Easter!  I think it's because last week was Spring Break and that threw us off our routine (that I love so much) and it just makes it seem like a long time ago.  Nonetheless, I wanted to share some pictures of my handsome men in their church attire.

The serious side.

The silly side.

The happy family - quite possibly one of the only decent family pics we have had lately!  We can thank Wes' iphone and Facebook loving sister for her mad camera skills :)

Wes and I - another rare shot that actually is decent!

Wes' family, his brother's son, and us.

All the kiddos.

And this shot cracked me up too much to not include.  I actually had to crop out Sawyer because he was on the move and was a blur.  This is what I was left with.  Doesn't it look like a Glamour Shot (or an Olan Mills picture for those of you from around here)?!

Warming Up

I don't know about you, but I, for one, am ready for Spring!  I've had enough of the cold, dry, hand-cracking weather and I'm ready for sunshine, warm rains, flowers in bloom, and green grass.  
Last weekend it was maybe 50 degrees, but that didn't stop these 2 little guys from breaking out the new gear.  Come on t-ball, we're ready for you!  Just look at that determination and concentration.

What a stance.

Base hit!

Anything big brother has, little one has to have a piece of the action too.  Nothing is too big, too fast, or too scary for this one.

Come on Spring!

TMNT Valentine Box

There are 2 things you should know about me:  1)  I love to craft and 2) I don't do anything halfway.  So when you combine the 2, you get something like this.

When Colin's class list came home for the Valentines, there was a sheet attached with instructions for a Valentine's box.  I could feel the smile form from ear to ear.  I had dreamed of this day since I was about 8-years old, playing house (or school) with my Cabbage Patch dolls.  I loved crafting my Valentine's boxes each year and was sad when I outgrew it.  I hoped that one day I'd get to do it all over again.  What I didn't bank on was creating one for a boy!  

I gave Colin several choices and he ultimately decided on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle van.  I thought it would be easy enough.  It was, just time consuming.  I started Sunday morning and within an hour, he was asking if I was finished yet?!

Yet?!  Crafting takes time!  You can't rush a good thing.  After 3 days, 2 trips to Michael's, I finally finished my masterpiece.  For those of you not privy to all things Turtle, here's the real thing next to my replica.

I knew it was all worth it when he looked at me and said, "I LOVE it!"  Now if we can just preserve it for a few years until Sawyer can use it!

In case you want to replicate it yourself, here are some tips of what I used and how I made it work.  The wheels were my first obstacle.  I ended up cutting the bottoms off paper party cups and painting them black. Then, I fretted about how I was going to adhere them.  I ended up threading 2 wooden dowel rods through the box, leaving about an 1-inch on each side for the wheel to rest on.  I hot glued the wheel to the rod and then also glued the edge of the wheel to the van. The headlights were made from rhinestones.  The end headlights were painted ribbon spools.  The warning labels were printed from the web, as was his nameplate - I just added that with Publisher.  The top rails were painted popsicle sticks and were adhered using 2-sided foam tape to give them some dimension.  Lastly, the tanks on the end, as well as the red tank on the side were made from cardstock.   My "wheels" are already turning for what I can make next year!  Let the crafts begin!    

Homemade Superhero Valentines

As a friend of mine noted, the kids Valentines selection stinks.  They are so cheap - both in looks and quality - and they don't even come with an envelope anymore!  I'm pretty sure the cost has doubled, if not tripled since we were kids, but the product has diminished greatly.  After buying these for a couple years during the preschool phase, I vowed to do better this year.  

Please keep in mind, I do not have a lot of spare time on my hands.  I say that not to invite a pity party, but to emphasize how quick and easy homemade Valentines can be.  From start to finish, the entire project took about an hour.  A small sacrifice for a much cute Valentine!  

Colin is huge superhero fan, so it was no surprise he chose the Super Friends theme over "Owl always love you!"  Probably a wise decision.  I'm not ready for any kind of love triangle scenario just yet.

Here's a quick tutorial.  First you cut out the capes from a heavy cardstock - I used scrapbook paper.  Then find some logos online and print and cut them out.  Affix them to the back of each cape with a small piece of double-sided foam tape.  

Then type and print your selected message.  Cut to fit on the reverse side of the cape.

If you're feeling extra generous, you can add a sucker before adhering the message to the cardstock.

The finished product!  Colin can't wait to pass them out to his friends and that makes my little heart smile.

I might have had a little assistance in the process.

   

Follies

One of my mantras this year is to be more fun and lighthearted.  Being a perfectionist gets in the way with a lot of my fun and creativity because of my personal high standards (totally unachievable, I might add).  I'm trying not to be so serious all the time and find humor and joy in the small things.  Thankfully, I have 2 giant helpers at home!  
These are 2 funny stories from my little red-headed wonder, Colin.

Story #1:
Last week I got the first dreaded phone call from his school.  You know, the one where they introduce themselves as Ms. X from your son's elementary school?  The one where you heart stops for a second and you feel your stomach begin to dance?  Yeah, that one.  The lady on the other end tells me Colin is in the office with a stomach ache and a slight fever.  I wasn't too concerned with the 99 degree fever because my kids are warm blooded, unlike their mother who is a cold-hearted snake.  I 'm getting off track.  Being the concerned parent that I dutifully am, I phoned a friend, my mom, and had her pick him up.  Wes came home from work and all was well.  
Well the long and short of it was, he seemed perfectly fine.  He did say it hurt and that he had tried to go to the bathroom but nothing happened.  
Well fast forward to the next morning.  Out of the blue he tells me that he must have had his belt on the 3rd hole instead of the 2nd and that's what was making his stomach hurt the day before.  He went on to say that had to be it because his stomach didn't hurt at all today.  Really?  You came home because your pants were too tight?!  I stood there dumbfounded.  I went on to reiterate that we only come home from school if we are really sick and that we need to make sure of it before we call mom.  He seemed to understand.  We'll see.

Story #2:
Last night at dinner, out of the blue.
Colin: "No one would sell their house for 138 dollars."  
Me:  "No?"
Colin:  "Probably not even 100 dollars!"
Me:  "Why not?  How much do you think they should sell it for?"
Colin:  "Well I have to get a house close to you and they have to know that I won't have much money because I will have just gotten out of school and you don't have a lot of money then.  And I have to have a nice house.  I better start looking."
Pause.
"I need to decide what kind of job I'm going to have!"  (Hands go to head as if he's disgruntled about it.)
Wes:  "I think you've got some time, buddy."
At least he's planning ahead!

Let it Snow!

Could this be our only snow of Winter 2013?  I would not be sad if that was true.  I don't mind it if I'm inside and have nothing to do but watch it pile up on each branch of the trees, but if I have to go to work, I watch nervously as it begins to cover the road.  I only have one speed, fast.  So that's not exactly conducive to slick roads.  

Nonetheless, my kids love the snow.  Their internal thermometers must temporarily stop working because they could easily spend an entire afternoon in sub-zero weather and not be the least bit phased.  I guess I'm just a sissy.  

So when we finally got our first snow, the boys were itching to go outside.  Not before we stopped by Target and just had to have some new snow boots!  Sawyer may or may not have been wearing them ever sense.  The kid loves him some 'piderman!

Colin is so astute.  He sees a camera and immediately grabs his brother for a photo op.  One never knows how long said photo op will last, so one must strike while the iron is hot.

Today proved to be a good day and Colin was all about modeling.  Even Sawyer joined in the fun.

Showing his older brother dominance and quite possibly squeezing a tad too hard (thus the biting of the tongue).

I think we have an oral fixation with the tongue...and the thumb.

Sawyer wasn't quite sure what to do with the snow.  So he stood there and watched his brother run wild.

This snow business is hard work.  I'm just going to stand here and look at bubby's footprints.