Things That Make Me Smile 6/15/18

Jake (12 1/2), Alyssa (10), Zac (8 1/2), Tyler (6), Nicholas (3 1/2)

I've been trying to get this list posted for weeks. Have I mentioned life is busy?

This week, Nicholas turned 3 1/2, we made cinnamon and sugar doughnuts, the kids went to science classes taught by a friend of ours with our Parks & Recs program, and we spent a lot of time reading together. 

1. Tyler, coming in the kitchen while I was making dinner: "Mmm, it smells so good! If I don't like this, I'm going to be surprised."

2. Nicholas, while completing our lesson from Bible Study Guide For All Ages: "Mommy, do Jesus have a pirate hat?"

3.

4. Me, leaving church: "I feel like we're forgetting someone. {looks around and counts kids} Oh, I told your dad that I had a dream last night that I had another baby. Maybe that's who I think we're forgetting."

Alyssa: "It was a vision!"

Me: "It was a girl, too."

Alyssa: "Yes! It definitely was a vision! Another baby!"

5. Jake, making up a joke: "One bird asked another bird if he wanted to go to lunch. The other bird said,  'No.' The first bird said, 'Ok, suet yourself.'"

6. Zac, wrestling with Nicholas, after he was kicked "Never bring a foot to a hand fight."

7. Tyler: "Mom, did you know my first initial looks like the cross?"

8. Half Birthday pancakes

9. Jake was making a cake.
Nicholas: "I help!"
Jake: "Ok, you read the recipe. What does it say?"
Nicholas: "Uhh . . . put lava on it."

10. Nicholas: "You my best fwiend! Because you my mommy!"

11. Nicholas, wearing just a shirt and undies: "I am cold! I need a piece of pants."

12. Tyler, about a coloring book: "This looks like the 1960s! It's all black and white."


What made you Smile this week?

Alyssa Turns 6-and-a-half!

We've been celebrating half birthdays for 4 years now. The kids get just as excited about adding that half as they do when they turn another year older. We make it special by allowing the half-birthday-er to make meal and activity choices throughout the day. And, of course, we always make some sort of cake, usually cupcakes. Then we end the day with a small gift.

So, even though Alyssa is now technically 6-and-three-quarters, haha, here is how we celebrated her half birthday 3 months ago.

The celebrated child almost always picks pancakes for breakfast.

I know I'm a little partial, but isn't she a pretty little girl?

This time, it was chocolate chip pancakes with homemade maple syrup and candy-coated chocolate chip sprinkles.

And some butter, for good measure.

Alyssa had gotten a princess cupcake kit. Her half birthday was the perfect time to put her baking skills to the test.

I stood back and took pictures while she did all the work.

Of course, decorating the cupcakes was the best part! She and her brothers were very meticulous as they added the icing and "pearl" sprinkles.

They even made specific cupcakes for each member of the family.

I made sure that Tyler's were topped with less icing than the others. Because everyone knows, that boy does not need extra sugar!

Yum!


Alyssa also got to go to the store with her daddy to pick out a gift. Normally, I purchase something for them to unwrap that day, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. When that's the case, they always pick the same thing: Lego. She chose 2 Lego Mixels and was very excited to show them to her brothers. It was a great end to a great day.


Happy Half Birthday, my sweet girl! We're so proud of the little lady you're growing up to be.

Tasty Tuesday: Caramel Brownie Cupcakes

I asked Zac what he wanted to make for his half-birthday. Of course, he said, "Pupcakes! Blue ones with princess on top." Apparently he was pretty impressed with Alyssa's last birthday cake (pic toward the bottom of the post.)  I suggested these cupcakes instead. And though they're neither blue nor princessy, he was very excited. He's so laid-back and easy-going, just like his daddy.

Since it was his special day, Zac got to do most of the prep for the cupcakes.

 He did all the dumping.

 All the pouring.

 And all the stirring.

He even did all the cracking.

Kidding. Though he begged to crack the eggs, I figured he wasn't quite ready yet.

Besides, we had a big enough mess with one that Alyssa smashed.

This beauty was one of my Mother's Day presents. I had complained mentioned many times how my old mixer's lowest speed was not slow. Every time I used it for something like whipping cream, it splattered liquid all over my kitchen. Leighton took the kids shopping and narrowed down the choices. This is the mixer they chose. It's pretty, has its own storage case and 3 types of beaters. Best of all, it has 7 speeds with the lowest setting actually being slow. No more splattered kitchen!

Who am I kidding? I bake with 3 little kids. I should say, 'not as much splattered kitchen.'

 

As soon as Zac saw the mixer, he said, "Dat loud. I go sit on couch?" So he climbed down off the counter, and Alyssa took over.

 He made sure to come back to lick the beaters though. And he actually got both of them!

 Alyssa used our large cookie scoop to fill the liners with the cake batter.

Then, I used my Dessert Decorator Pro to add the brownie batter. I used a #199 star tip, but any one with a large opening will work to dispense the chilled batter. If you don't have a decorator or pastry bag, you could just scoop both batters in with a spoon, but the 2 layers will be very distinct. 

Yum! Chilling the brownie batter helped keep the centers fudgy, while still allowing the cake to fully cook. We didn't even add frosting to them since they're already pretty rich. 

The recipe is super simple to adapt. You can try it with red velvet cake with buttercream frosting or white cake with peanut butter frosting or pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. Experiment and have fun!

Caramel Brownie Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 package brownie mix (prepared according to package directions)

1 package caramel cake mix (prepared according to package directions)

Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 350° F (175° C.) Line muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. Place in refrigerator.

3. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. 

4. Spoon the cake batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup 1/3 full. 

5. Fill a dessert decorator or pastry bag with chilled brownie batter. Insert tip of decorator in the center of the cake batter and fill each liner until 2/3 full.

6. Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes.

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com.

Two-And-A-Half and Twenty-Six Days

Zac turned 2½ years old . . . 26 days ago. I'd like to say that I'm just really late in getting this posted, but honestly, we were just really late in celebrating. Somehow, amidst all the hustle and bustle of life, I completely forgot about it. Maybe subconsciously I thought if I just ignored it, he wouldn't actually get older. Maybe time would stand still, and my babies wouldn't grow up so fast. Wishful thinking? Definitely. 

It was my mom that pointed out that Zac's half birthday had passed a few days prior. Since Jake keeps pretty good tabs on everyone's special days, we couldn't just skip the celebration. So, celebrate we did. And no one even seemed to mind that we were 26 days late. 

The kids always get to pick breakfast on their real and half birthdays. And they always pick pancakes. 

Always.

Corn on the cob??? Yep, Zac could not be convinced that he wanted pancakes or even waffles for breakfast. Trust me, Jake tried.

There's an educational site that we're currently reviewing. The youngest level is for preschoolers, but I've been working on the activities with Zac. He's doing so well and has fun doing it. After sitting on my lap for a few minutes, he told me, "I do it myself." 

We played, read a bunch of books, went to Jake's soccer game, and of course, made cupcakes. Caramel brownie cupcakes, to be exact.

The half-birthday-er always gets one present.

Do you know how long it took me to wrap that crazy package? Much longer than it took him to unwrap it.

His Stick-A-Doodle was a big hit. He loves to draw, especially on the dry erase board. This pack came with 10 reusable, re-stickable sheets and 4 markers. The kids had fun sticking (like static cling) the sheets around the house and creating masterpieces.

Happy Half-Birthday, little Zachy! You are constant energy, always happy, very loving, a little brute, and so silly. We love you bunches!

42 Months

We had reason to celebrate . . . Alyssa turned three-and-a-half!

We started the celebration with a nutritious delicious breakfast. We replaced our beloved letter-shaped pancakes with balloon ones and topped them with powdered sugar and chocolate sprinkles. (Hey, at least I overrode their choice of pop for a beverage!)

We spent the day reading books, putting together puzzles, playing the Wii, playing dress-up, and filling the house with the delicious smells from our play dough bakery, "Leafs' Treats." The pictures show our very own cinnamon rolls, strawberry pie, and apple pie (featuring 2 kinds of apples.) Also for sale in our bakery are cookies, rolls, cakes, doughnuts, and ice cream. We were very busy rolling, cutting, preparing, and baking. It was worth it! It was all sooo delicious!

 

We always give the half-birthday-ers one present. Alyssa was very happy to get clothes for her baby dolls. And for a total of $3.00, Mommy was pretty happy, too. 

Our little Sweetie Pie wanted personal pizzas for dinner. Fresh homemade dough, tons of cheese, and lots of favorite toppings - what could be better?


And for dessert?

Ice cream cones???

Nope! Ice cream cone cupcakes with pink icing and sprinkles! Yummy!

Happy 3-and-a-half birthday, Alyssa! We've enjoyed calling you ours for 42 months. Looking forward to many, many more. 

Want to read about more half-birthdays?  Jake 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 (rainbow cupcakes), Alyssa 2 1/2 (cream-filled cupcakes).

Tasty Tuesday: Rainbow Cupcakes

Have you noticed the lack of posts the past two weeks?

No, we didn't go on an exotic vacation.

Nope, we weren't abducted by aliens.

The school year is officially over! I know it's cliche, but I can't believe how fast it flew by. Our first year homeschooling has truly been a blessing. The kids have learned a lot. So have I. We've worked out some kinks, rearranged our schedule, and have totally embraced the homeschooling lifestyle. Now that it's summer, things will be a little different. While we're not taking a break from learning, we will be slowing down a bit. Our schedule will consist of more free-play and outdoor learning and less "text book" learning. All that to say, the posts will be a little sparse this summer. I plan soak up the sun with my babies . . . while pulling weeds, pushing swings, watering gardens, building sand castles, and washing sandy kids.

So, not only do we officially have a first grader, we have a half-er too. If you remember the post from last year, you'll know the importance of that extra six months. Jake now wears that honored badge of a half-er. No more plain ol' 5 years old. He is officially 5-and-a-half.

I had someone ask me on Facebook, "Why celebrate a half-birthday?" My answer, "Why not!" Do you really need a reason to make your child feel extra special? Or to eat cake??

We started our day with pancakes covered in powdered sugar, whipped cream, and mini M&Ms. And more powdered sugar. And whipped cream. And more powdered sugar. Not sure what was nutritional about their breakfast, but they sure did enjoy it! And that's really what matters, right? Right???

To keep up with the theme of not letting anything remotely nutritional touch our lips on his half-birthday day, we made cupcakes.

This is what can happen when you let the children do ALL the work. Sometimes they do great. Sometimes they spill the cake mix on the floor.

Yea! Everything in the bowl! (Just ignore the cake mix spilled on the table.)

Not trusting the kids to spoon the batter . . .  evenly into bowls . . .  without spilling it all over the table . . . or into their mouths, I divided the batter into 6 bowls.

Here are the colors and amounts of food coloring starting at the back left: Purple - 9 red drops and 6 blue drops; Red - 18 drops; Blue - 12 drops; Orange - 12 yellow drops and 4 red drops; Yellow - 12 drops; Green - 12 drops. 

This was by far the best part of the entire activity. (Well, maybe second to spilling half the cake mix.)

They loved mixing the batter and watching the colors swirl and blend to make a new colors. This was perfect for Alyssa who is learning how to make secondary colors.

We poured our new bright, pretty batter into plastic bags to make it easier for the kids to layers the colors in the cupcake liners.

What was that I said about easier? Yeah, not so much. As soon as I snipped the corner off the red bag . . . sploosh! It started pouring all over the table. (Uh, I just didn't want my kids to feel bad about making the mess on the floor. Yeah, that's it.) They didn't seem to mind the red cake batter trail from the table to the cupcake tin. They both instantly started using their hands to scoop it into their mouths. 

You can see some that didn't quite make it into Jake's mouth. 

You can also see his little smirk because of it.

The batter was incredibly runny. You think it's because we lost so much mix on the floor??? Nah! 

These were perhaps the messiest cupcakes we've ever made. And definitely the most colorful.

Our rainbow cupcakes! Aren't they pretty?? 

Tasty too!

Not all the colors were visible in all the cupcakes. I guess that's what happens when you have a 3 year old, a 5-and-a-half year old, and a mom trying to pour water-like batter into little liners. 

Next time, we plan to try one big cake.

Zachy loved the "cake-cake" too. Although, what doesn't this kid love??? 

It is our tradition to give the half-birthday-er one single gift. Jake was ecstatic to receive Legos Mega Blocks. Trust me, they are not interchangeable. Leighton tried to tell me. He attempted to convince me. But did I listen? Nooooo. I assumed all interlocking blocks were relatively the same. I came to this conclusion though:

Mega Blocks were produced by Lego as a marketing scheme:
1. Buy the cheaper brand.
2. Attempt to assemble the set.
3. Get frustrated because the pieces refuse to snap together.
4. Get the pieces to go together finally, only to have the entire set crumble in your hands.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 at least 7 times.
6. Vow to never buy Mega Blocks again.
7. Go to the store and buy a Lego set.

And it worked! Never again will I waste my money on Mega Blocks. Some lessons are hard to learn.

There you are again, Lovely Little Cake-Cake. You make me happy.

Go make a batch of colorful cupcakes and make someone else happy. Or yourself. Or another half-er. Just make some cupcakes.  (But don't spill the mix on the floor!)

Tasty Tuesday: Cream-Filled Cupcakes

Today is a very exciting day in our house. We officially have another half-year-old. Two years and six months ago, our precious baby girl was born. Alyssa often tells her older brother, "No, I'm four-and-a-half. You're two." She understands the importance of those extra six months. We made cream-filled cupcakes today for her half-birthday.

Ingredients:

Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour                                   2 eggs

2 cups white sugar                                          1 cup milk
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder              1 cup water
2 teaspoons baking soda                                1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt                                                1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling
1/4 cup butter                                                   1 pinch salt
1/4 cup shortening                                           3 tablespoons milk
2 cups confectioners' sugar                            1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 36 muffin cups with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the eggs, 1 cup milk, water, oil and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix well. Fill each muffin cup half-full of batter.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.
4. Make filling: In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening together until smooth. Blend in confectioners' sugar and pinch of salt. Gradually beat in 3 tablespoons milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla. beat until light and fluffy. Fill a pastry bag with a small tip. Push tip through bottom of paper liner to fill each cupcake.

Jake loved filling the cupcakes.

One cupcake for each child.

We realized the candle had not been lit after we had already sung "Happy Birthday."

Now she can make her very own cupcakes!

Yummy!

Linked to Whatcha Making Wednesdays.