My baby isn't a baby anymore!

He is 3 years old now!!!  He was born on New Year's Eve...lucky guy will always have a rockin' party on his birthday.  :)

He wanted a Superman cake this year.  I had big plans.  BIG ones.  But when your kitchen looks like this, it's hard to bake a cake.

What did I do?  I bought one of these (but it had blue flowers and sprinkles on it)...

And scrapped all of this off...

And turned it into this...

And he was so happy!

Happy Birthday little man.  We love you and are so happy you are part of our family (and finally potty-trained...NO MORE DIAPERS!!!)

Foodie Friday -- Carrot Cake Cupcakes

A friend of mine wanted Carrot Cake for her birthday.  She is also a pretty healthy eater, so I knew I couldn't just make any old Carrot Cake it had to be at least a little bit healthy.  Here's what I came up with and it was DELICIOUS!  (I was running low on time so I baked them as cupcakes instead of as a cake.)

Carrot Cake

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups applesauce
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4  tsp. nutmeg
• 3 cups grated carrots (grated on the large grater hole side)
• 1 cup chopped peacons
• 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained well

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour cake pans (or use papers for cupcakes)
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, applesause, brown sugar and vanilla.
3. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
4. Stir in carrots and pineapple.
5. Fold in pecans. 
6. Pour into prepared pans.
7. Bake in preheated oven until toothpick comes out clean.  bake a 9 x 13 for 40-50 minutes.  bake 2 round pans for 25-35 minutes.  Bake cupcakes for 15-20 minutes.
8. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and let cool completely.

And when your kids dont know how good they have it, they get these for dessert instead.  :)

I'm linking to these sites.  Go check them out.

Whatever Wednesday -- Sweet Fireflies

I made this cake for a friend's birthday.  All she wanted was "something cute with fireflies".  I made the cake from scratch, used homemade buttercream frosting and the little fireflies are made from store bought gum paste.  It was pretty easy.  Too bad I had a little person who kept poking it so the finish isn't totally smooth.

What do you think?

I'm linking to these sites.  Go check them out!

• Show and Tell @ Blue Cricket Design
• We Did it Wednesday @ Sew Much Ado
• Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage
• Strut your Stuff Thursday @ Somewhat Simple
• Favorite Things Friday @ A Few of my Favorite Things
• Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest
• Home and Family Friday @ Home is Where my Story Begins

Foodie Friday -- Sleeping Beauty Birthday

B turned 4 on Sunday.  She told me months ago that she wanted a Sleeping Beauty cake.  So, that's what I did.  I used Buttercream Frosting on the cake and Marshmallow Fondant on top of it.  The white "dust" on her dress is powdered sugar.  We could have taken the time to brush it off, but I actually like the look of it, so we left it there.

I think it is so cute and she really loved it!

And here she is.  Cinderella's shirt, Snow White's skirt, some tiara sunglasses and a Sleeping Beauty cake.  It doesn't get any better than that.  I can't believe my little Princess is 4 years old!!!

I'm linking up to these sites.  Go check them out!!

• Favorite Things Friday @ A Few of my Favorite Things
• Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest
• Foodie Friday @ Cheffie Jo
• Home and Family Friday @ Home is Where my Story Begins

Foodie Friday -- Fire Truck Cake

Mr. Wonderful just finished his training to be a volunteer fire fighter!  Don't let the volunteer part fool you.  He had to go through the exact same training as a professional fire fighter.  The only difference is that he won't get paid for fighting fires.  He started it in September and finally finished last week.  He had his award ceremony on Thursday evening and I missed it because I had to take C to urgent care.  (poor little guy has been sick for a week now)  I wanted Mr. Wonderful to know how proud of him we are and how happy we are that he is finally finished! 

So last Friday I made him a cake.  Unfortunately because I was up half the night taking care of a sick baby, I wasn't able to make the Marshmallow Fondant ahead of time and it was a pain in the booty to work with.  It kept tearing and it was sticky.  I'm disappointed in how un-professional it looks, but it still looks pretty cute.  Mr. Wonderful loved it, so that's what really matters.

Good job babe!  We love you!!!

Foodie Friday -- Tasty Treats for Mom

Here are some special treats you can fix for Mother's Day that are sure to please.  If you scroll down to the bottom, you can also see the birthday cake I made for my hubby last week.

Homemade Oreos

• 1 German Chocolate Cake Mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil

1. Mix all ingredients thoroughly.  Dough will be pretty thick.

2. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet about 1.5 to 2 inches apart.  (should make about 48 dough balls)

3. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.  You know they are done when the tops crinkle.

4. Let cool on pan for 2-3 minutes and then place on cooling rack.
5. While cooling make the frosting (recipe below)
6. Frost the bottom side of one cookie and then sandwich it together with the bottom side of another cookie.

Buttercream Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 tsp clear vanilla (or another flavoring extract)
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 4-6 Tbsp water (or amount needed to get proper consistancy)
• Food coloring if desired.

1. Cream butter and shortening together.
2. Add powdered sugar and mix well.  Add vanilla and water a Tbsp at a time until you get to the correct consistancy.
3. Add food coloring if desired.

This is such a quick and easy recipe that takes very little time.  My kids love to help make these and they taste great too.  Can't beat that!  Any mother on your list would love to get these for a treat.  Or you could accidentally leave your computer on with this page pulled up and maybe the man in your life will get the brilliant idea that you would like these for Mother's day.  HINT! HINT!

What?  A girl can dream...right?!

As promised, here are the pics of the Transformer Birthday Cake I made for my hubby.  His birthday is 3 days after E's birthday, so we spent the week gorging on sugar celebrating together.  It was so fun.

Each year the kids decide what kind of cake I should make for Dad.  Last year was R2D2.  That cake just about did me in!  Decorating it was what made me decide to learn how to make and use fondant.  This year they decided on Transformers.

The cake is just a yellow cake mix.  The frosting is Chocolate Buttercream (same recipe as above except add a heaping 1/4 cup cocoa powder.  The Transformer face is made of marshmallow fondant.

I think it turned out pretty well.  I wish I would have covered the entire cake in fondant to give it a more smooth finish, but I was pressed for time, so I only did the face.  It still looks good though.

p.s.  My son just gave me a hug and patted my stomach and asked me why my tummy is getting so big.  NICE!  I think next week's Foodie Friday will be a recipe for a super healthy, low fat, low calorie, and absolutely delicios Something or Other.  :)

I'm linking this up to these blogs.  Go check them out!

Foodie Friday -- Birthday cake anyone?

As I mentioned here, it was E's birthday this week.  Every year I let the kids decide what type of birthday cake they want.  At first it was pretty easy, but as they have gotten older, their cake requests have gotten more challenging.  E wanted a Barbie Mariposa (butterfly) cake

I used 2 cake mixes in a large pan that my neighbor gave me.  She said it could hold 2 mixes, but I had never tried it before.  As it was baking it started rising higher and higher and I started panicking.  I thought for sure it was going to spill out of the pan and all over my oven.  It got right up to the tippy top and even a little higher, but never did overflow.  Thankgoodness!!!

And here is the finished cake!

Today is my hubby's birthday, and I have big plans for his cake.  Check back next friday for the pics!

I'm also linking this up these sites.  Go check them out and see what everyone else is up to.

Let them eat cake!!

A while ago I agreed to make a cake for a Women's Activity at our church today.  I obviously wasn't anticipating getting sick.  (Don't worry, I washed my hands about 1,000 times.)  I had big plans for this cake, but just didn't have the energy to make those plans a reality.  It is a butter cake with buttercream frosting and gumpaste flowers.  The cake and frosting are from scratch.  The gumpaste is ready made, but I tinted it and shaped it.  I didn't want to mess with making it myself.  Even though it's not what I wanted, I think it still turned out well.  What do you think?

I love making cakes.  Love it.  I really hope that some day I can do wedding cakes.  I'm not there yet, but I think I'm off to a good start!  Anyone need a cake?

Happy Birthday to J!!

J turned 5 last week.  J is a thoughtful, tender hearted boy.  He has been through so many physical/health issues in his short life, but through it all he has kept a smile on his face.  I have learned so much about patience and enduring your trials well from him.  I have also seen him show unconditional love to everyone around him.  He is a really great boy and we are so blessed to have him as part of our family.

We have a tradition in our home that we ALWAYS have cake in some form on our actual birthdays.  We also decided to celebrate the big birthdays with friend parties and the not so big birthdays with family parties.  The "big" birthdays are 5, 8, 12, 16, and if they are with us 21.

We sent spider web cupcakes to school and had a little family party that night.  Then on Friday, Dad took a 1/2 day so we could do his big party with all of his friends at the fire station.  (Dad is a volunteer fire fighter).  It was so much fun!!!  We had a tour of the fire station, all of the kids got to try on the fire fighter clothes, we played a game, ate junk, whacked a piñata (which I made), and ate cake and ice cream.  Here are some pictures.

Happy Birthday B!

Last week was B's birthday.  She is 3 years old.  Be is the cutest, craziest, happiest, most mischievous child I know.  Sometimes she is like a little devil in an angels clothing.  It doesn't matter though.  I had a very tough pregnancy with her and ended up on partial bed rest for the last 3 months.  My mom came out to take care of us because my husband was on an internship for grad school.  She almost didn't make it here, and I can't imagine my life without her.

She wanted a Hello Kitty cake and a Ballerina cake.  I will make 1 cake of whatever they want, but I won't make 2!  It took me a while and a lot internet surfing, but I finally found a great combination of the two.  I got the idea from Sweet Catastrophe Cakes.  She has a ton of really great cakes.  You should take a minute and look around her site.

Happy Birthday to my LOVE!

My husband's birthday is a few days after E's birthday.  I asked him what kind of cake he wanted.  He said, "I don't know...J, what kind of cake do I want?"  J thought about it for a minute and said, "STAR WARS!"  Pretty funny since he has never seen Star Wars.

So, I sat down with J and the computer and we looked up Star Wars cakes.  He decided Dad needed an R2D2 cake.  We got the idea from here.  It took 2 cake mixes, a lot of frosting, and a LOT of time, but it turned out great.  I think I might have to try my hand a fondant if the cake requests get much more detailed.  If only fondant didn't taste disgusting...

Happy birthday Love!  Thanks for working so hard for us and for being such a great husband and father.  We love you!!!

Happy Birthday E!

Last week was E's birthday.  She turned 6 years old and I can't believe it!!!  I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday.  I had a very quick labor and delivery.  It was a bit traumatic actually (shoulder dystocia), but my baby girl was in my arms and I didn't care.  We had to use infertility treatments to get her here, so it didn't matter what else I had to go through for her.  She will always be special to me because she fulfilled one of my life long dreams...she made me a mother.

So, Happy Birthday E!  I hope every birthday brings you happiness and that your life is filled with love and peace.

Every year I make the kids whatever kind of cake they want.  This year E asked for a Tinkerbell cake.  This is what I came up with.  Not to bad, huh?