Friday, December 28, 2012

Things That Make Me Smile 12/28/12

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We have had a wonderful week spending time with family, receiving presents, and making memories. Christmas is always fun with little kids around. I just love seeing them get excited. Over and over, Zac would hug his presents, say I lub it!, No way!, and This was on my list! even if he had never seen the toy before. While I don't have many quotes this week, there were numerous smiles. I'm so thankful for my family.

1. Jake: "Do people in jail get Christmas presents?"
Me: "Only if someone sends them some."
Jake: "Can we send them some?"
Me: "Why would you want to send presents to criminals?"
Jake: "Well, could we send them Christmas cards?"
Me: "Yes, I suppose we could do that."
Jake: "I know, we could send them Bibles! That would be a great Christmas present." 

2. Jake: "Is it ok if we read the Christmas story twice - once before we open presents and once when we're done?"

3.


4. Jake: "I got a lot of reasons, but I'll only tell you one because I don't know the rest."

5. Zac, while watching our neighbor's snow blower: "It's a snow sprinkler!"

6. Zac, about snowballs: "Look, snow rocks!"

7.


What made you smile this week?



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Friday, December 21, 2012

Things That Make Me Smle 12/21/12

Happy Friday! This has been the baking week. The kids and I made gingerbread men on Monday and Tuesday, chocolate-covered Oreos and pretzels on Wednesday, chocolate fudge, brownies, sour cream cookies, snickerdoodles,  no-bake cookies, 2 different shapes & colors of spritz cookies, Heath bars, and half-way chocolate chip cookie bars with my mom on Thursday, and egg-yolk cut-out cookies on Friday. We make tons of goodies every year and share them with friends and neighbors. It's a tradition we all love.

Here are a few other things that made me smile this week. Don't forget to share a smile or two that you had this week, too!




1. Alyssa, about her shoes: "They won't let me put them on."

2. Alyssa: "I made up a song. {singing} Christmas, Christmas - It's not about getting toys. Christmas, Christmas - It's about Jesus."

3. Zac: I"m gonna show this to my friends."
Me: "You are? And who are your friends?"
Zac: "Whistle, and another Whistle, and Chainer, and Tichipichi, and Farnar."
Me, confused: "Really? And where did you meet your friends?"
Zac: "At school."
Me, amused: "At school? What are their names again?"
Zac: "Whistle, and Chainer, and Tichipichi, and another Whistle,  and Farnar."

4. Alyssa: "I totally think Tyler should not be in my room. He's going to distract me so I won't put away my toys. I'm just gong to want to play with him."

5. Alyssa: "I'm never going to do that. Not in my whooole life. Not until I turn 6."

6. Zac: "When you be happy, you not be sad."

7. Alyssa: "Do you remember my husband's name?"
Jake: "No."
Alyssa: "Hmm, I don't quite remember either."

8.



9. Alyssa, dreamily: "I love everything Tyler does . . . I even love when he cries. It sounds so beautiful."

10. Zac: "Mommy, is it school-time?"
Me: "No, not yet."
Zac: "Pleeeeeeaase can I do school???"

11. Zac: "Why do you wear make-up?"
Me: "Because I like it. I think it makes me look prettier".
Zac: "It doesn't make you prettier."
Me: "Oh, no? Do you think I'm pretty without makeup?"
Zac: "Yep!"

12. Leighton took the 3 older kids to buy my Christmas presents.
Alyssa: "I'm going to pick out the perfect gift for you!"
Zac: "Yeah, I'm gonna buy butter fer you."
Me: "Wow! What can I do with the butter?"
Zac: "Cut it. It's fer when you make us cookies."

13. Jake, laughing: "You know, Tyler, you look really cute, but you aren't good at playing the iPad!"

14. Alyssa: "I did it on accident or on purpose. I don't remember which one."


What made you smile this week?
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Sunday, December 16, 2012

Things That Make Me Smile 12/14/12

Happy Weekend! Wow, what a week! Our Christmas cantata at church is being performed today in both the morning and evening services. We were at the church practicing nearly every day this week. Between Leighton being the choir director and me overseeing the play portion, we've been extremely busy getting everything in order. All the hard work is paying off though. I am so happy with how well everything went in this morning's production! We'll finally be able to breathe a little after tonight's performance. I have so much work left to do to get ready for Christmas though. Normally, I'm completely done wrapping and everything by now, but I still have a couple more gifts to buy, and . . . I haven't even wrapped a single one yet! Not one!!! As someone who likes things in order (remember Tyler's birth?), it's driving me crazy that there's so much left to do and just over a week to do it all. It's going to be another hectic week for sure, but I'm thankful for the times to smile.

1. Alyssa: "I spy something white and it looks like a 5 and it's outside."
Zac: "Where?"
Alyssa, pointing out the window: "Right there."

2. Jake asked Jesus into his heart over a year ago, but because of multiple reasons, he hadn't been baptized. He was finally able to be this past Sunday.


3. Zac picked up a box of matches I left sitting on the counter.
Me, disapprovingly : "Oh, those are matches."
Zac: "Can I play the matches?"
Me, surprised and slightly humored by the whole 'don't play with matches' reference: "No. What do you need with matches?"
Zac: "I want to match both the same."
Ohhhh, you mean those matches. Silly words with multiple meanings.

4. Jake: "When can you buy toothpaste for me that tastes like meat?"

5. Alyssa: "I spy somebody being loud."

6. Listening to Jake read a story with varying voices for the different characters.

7. Zac, out of the blue: "Do you know what, Mommy? I love you. So much."

8. Zac, holding a toy camera: "Hey, Mommy, say cheese."
Me: "Cheeeeeese."
Zac, looking at the 'picture': "How bootiful!"

9. Jake: "What's a parent's favorite Christmas carol?"
Me: "What?"
Jake: "Silent Night. But I don't know how that's supposed to be a joke."


10. Me: "Who ate something minty?"
Alyssa: "Not me."
Zac: "Not me"
Me, sniffing: "I smell something minty. Who ate something?"
Kids: "Not me."
Me, sniffing Zac's mouth: "You smell minty. What did you eat?"
Zac: "It's chastick."
Me: "Ohhh, you put on chapstick."
Zac: "Yeah, and it didn't taste good when I ate it."



What made you smile this week?

 
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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Wordless Wednesday 12/12/12


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Tasty Tuesday: 5-Layer Neapolitan Cake

Every year I ask Leighton, "What kind of cake do you want for your birthday?" And every year he responds, "I don't care." This year he did follow it up with, "I don't think I want a Boston cream though."

It was a start. I knew what he didn't want, but that didn't narrow it down much. "Do you want another tres leches?" was met with "I don't know," (I don't know usually means no.) to which I responded, "Well, you're no help."

Profitable conversation, huh?


I browsed the recipes on a few of my favorite sites and narrowed the choices down to two. The one is an all white cake with white chocolate - a big plus in my hubby's eyes. I knew immediately that he would love it. The other was a cake I fell in love with the moment I first saw it nearly a year ago. While it does have a couple layers of chocolate cake, I thought I might be able to win him over with the Neapolitan aspect and the abundance of strawberry flavors.

As you can see, the lure of the prettier and more complicated cake was too strong. I did promise to make him the all-white cake some day though. I get bonus points for that, right??



This cake takes a bit of time to make. You make 3 different cakes - chocolate, strawberry, vanilla - along with a strawberry buttercream frosting. In between the layers, you can add either a bit of vanilla buttercream frosting or a good-quality strawberry jam. We used our homemade jam (using our  triple berry jam recipe, replacing the blueberries with extra strawberries.) Whether you choose the frosting or the jam to hold it all together, make sure you use just a tiny bit, a super thin layer. Mine soaked into the cake and bled through some. While it made for a very tasty addition, the layers were not quite as defined as I would have liked.     

But really, who cares about a little seeping when the cake tastes amazing??? All the components separately are delicious (oh, how I love that strawberry buttercream and can't wait to try it on other cakes!), but combine them and the flavors all work together to make a very Neapolitan-esque creation. It's kinda crazy how just how Neapolitany it is. Crazy and delicious. 

And crazy and delicious is good.
 
Really good.


And was I right? Did the cake win Leighton over??

Ohhh yeah.


5-Layer Neapolitan Cake

Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
¾ cup plus 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
6 Tbs dark cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup sugar
¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
1 egg
½ cup black coffee
½ cup buttermilk
1½ tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. and butter and flour the edges of a 9-inch round pan, shaking out the excess flour. 
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside. 
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, vegetable oil and egg.  Beat on medium speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.  With the mixer on low speed, blend in half of the dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated.  Blend in the coffee, buttermilk and vanilla just until smooth.  Beat in the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes before inverting onto rack to cool completely.


White Cake
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1¾ cup flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup sugar
8 Tbs unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup very cold water
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp almond extract

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. and butter and flour the edges of a 9-inch round pan, shaking out the excess flour. 
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside. 
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy.  Increase speed to medium high and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.  Transfer the egg whites to another bowl and set aside. 
4. In the bowl of the electric mixer now fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Blend in the water, vanilla and almond extracts.  Beat in the remaining dry ingredients just until incorporated.  With a silicone spatula, stir in about a quarter of the egg whites to lighten the batter.  Gently fold in the remaining egg whites, until the batter is smooth and no streaks remain.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes before inverting onto rack to cool completely. 
 
 
Strawberry Cake 
Ingredients:
1¼ cups plus 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
1¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1½ oz strawberry gelatin
8 Tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup sweetened strawberry puree (process partially thawed frozen strawberries, if unsweetened add 2 tsp sugar)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. and butter and flour the edges of a 9-inch round pan, shaking out the excess flour.  
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside. 
3. Combine the sugar, strawberry gelatin and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Beat the eggs into the sugar mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  With the mixer on low speed, add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until incorporated.  Blend in the milk and vanilla extract.  Add in the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.  Blend in the strawberry puree.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes before inverting onto rack to cool completely.
 

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
8 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 Tbs vanilla extract
1 Tbs water
pinch of salt
1 tsp strawberry extract
yellow food coloring, optional

Directions:
Beat the butter and icing sugar in an electric mixer on low with the paddle attachment for about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, water, whipping cream, salt, strawberry extract, and food coloring (as needed to match the color of the white cake) and whip on high speed until fluffy and smooth–about 4 minutes. If consistency is too thick, add water 1 teaspoon at a time, and whip again for 30 seconds or so.
 

Filling
Vanilla buttercream or good quality strawberry jam


Assemble the Cake:
Torte each of the cake layers horizontally into two thin halves. If you do not have a cake slicer, use a large serrated knife. Hold the knife in the middle of the cake and spin the cake slowly as you cut into the side. Continue spinning and sawing until you cut all the way through. Use a cake board (I cut a circle out of a cereal box) to slide under the top layer and lift it off.

Place one of the chocolate layers on a cake board or cake platter.  Top with a very thin layer of the vanilla buttercream or strawberry jam.  Place a layer of the strawberry cake on top.  Again, cover with a thin layer of vanilla buttercream or strawberry jam.  Top with a layer of the white cake.  Cover with a thin layer of the vanilla buttercream or strawberry jam.  Repeat the process with the remaining layers of chocolate and strawberry cake.  (For a taller cake, you can use the remaining layer of white cake.  Otherwise, you can wrap tightly and save.)  Frost as desired with the strawberry buttercream frosting.
Recipe adapted from Sweetapolita.

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Friday, December 7, 2012

Things That Make Me Smile 12/7/12

Happy Friday! Are you ready for Christmas yet? We're finishing up our shopping, continuing the decorating, and making a list of all the goodies we're going to make. I just love this time of year! We have some fun crafts planned for the next week or so. And . . . I'm planning to post recipes on Tuesdays again! You won't want to miss next week's. Trust me. It's yummy and impressive.

And it'll make you smile.


1. Jake, about his Lego pirate ship: "Did you see how much detail is on this thing?"

2. Jake: "I think I already said thank you 100 times for my pirate ship. I'll say it again though. Thank you!"

3. Zac walked up to me holding his stomach and groaned in a very whiny voice, "My tummy hurts."
Then he innocently asked, "May I have candy, please?"
There's an argument for candy I'd never heard before. And he almost persuaded me. 

4. Zac: "Mommy, I got hurt on my fumb."

5. Me, reading a book title: "The Ultimate Natural Detox Guide."
Jake: "Mmm, that sounds good."

6.


7. Zac, grumpy: "I'm not crabby. I'm just mad."

8. While playing hide-n-seek . . .
Jake, standing at the top of the stairs: "Hey, are you down there?"
Zac, standing behind the door at the top the stairs: "Yes!" 

9. I was reading the kids The Hobbit and stopped at the part where they find the secret door in Smaug's mountain. Zac took the book off my lap and opened it.
Me: "What happens next? You tell me the story."
Zac: "The dragon comes and eats them all. Nobody can go home. The end."
So much for "happily ever after." My 3-year-old's a realist.


10. I was making breakfast and dropped some food on the floor. Alyssa said, "That's ok. Tyler will get it." The kids think the baby's really a dog.  

11. Jake, telling a story: ". . . and they ride their octopuses . . ."
Me, interrupting: "It's octopi. The plural of octopus is octopi."
Jake: {blank stare} "Octo . . . pi?"
Me: "Yes, it's kinda silly isn't it? Octopus is one, if you have 2 or more it's octopi. Not octopuses. Octopi."

Jake: {blank stare, long pause} ". . . And they ride their octopuses . . ."
 (That's what I was always taught, but after some research today, I discovered that octopuses not only is the preferred spelling, it's also the one deemed correct and octopi is accepted but technically incorrect. Now I'm questioning my whole education. Ha!)

12. Alyssa: "I know how to spell Erika: M - O - M."


What made you smile this week?
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Monday, December 3, 2012

Things That Make Me Smile 11/30/12

Remember last week when I said how busy this weekend was going to be? Busy is an understatement. The festivities included Jake's birthday, a friend's party, the kids' very first time bowling, and a whole bunch of go-go-going. We were gone all weekend. This is really the first chance I've gotten to write up our smiles from the week. The smiles from this weekend alone are enough to make its own post though. Busy generally means a lot of smiling. I'll save some of that for Jake's 7th birthday post though. But don't worry, there's still plenty to smile about now!


1. Leighton: "Zachary, why do you have banana bread in your eye?"
Zac: "Because it smacked me right in the eye."

2. Zac: "I was playing with Tyler and teaching him tricks."

3. Jake: "What kind of fish eat fish? Catfish!"

4. Leighton and Me: "Where?"
Me: "Jinx. You owe me a kiss."
Alyssa, sweetly: "Aaaaaaaaww!"

5. Usually, when I play with Legos with Jake, he feels the need to "fix" my creations. But . . . I actually made 2 droids that he liked - no fixing required! Ha, I finally impressed my 7-year-old!  



6. Jake: "I made up a list of things that everyone can do. One is either go to Heaven or Hell. Another thing is everyone first has to be a baby."

7. Alyssa, after receiving a tiny piece of candy: "Jacob, you're so, so nice." 

8. Zac, about the word zoo: "Look! That says Zac with two Os."

9. Alyssa: "Daddy, you should be Mr. Incredible!"

10. Since Jake is reading chapter books now, his pretend play takes place in chapters too:
"We're getting ready to start chapter 3 'The Vacation.' We just finished chapter 2 'The Bus Trip' but that was a short chapter."


11. Zac was shoving handfuls of dry Honey Bunches of Oats into his mouth. Quite a bit of cereal was missing his mouth and falling all over the kitchen floor.
Me: Why are you doing that?
Zac: 'Cause.
Me: 'Cause why? You're making a big mess.
Zac: So Tyler can have some.
 

12. Jake: "Did Grandma like that when she was a kid?"
Alyssa: "Grandma was never a kid."


What made you smile this week???
 
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