Give Us Time

Just one last birthday story... There were two girls at Ehren and Christian's birthday party this year.  They are friends of our family, so they know and love our au pair, Bara.  Anna and the girls spent a lot of time playing together at the party, but they were all clamoring for attention from Bara {yes, she's very fun}.  Finally, after Bara had been playing with the other girls for awhile, Anna said to them, "Now I'm playing with Bara, so give us time."

Wordless Wednesday: More snow?

No Stress Chess

Ehren and Christian got a game called No Stress Chess for their birthday.  When they opened it, I thought to myself, "They'll never play this."  As predicted, they went for their new Lego sets first.  But an hour later, Christian was opening the chess game, ravenous to set it up.  First he started a game with Grandpa.  Then Ehren wanted in on the action.  With a little coaching, they picked up on the moves and the strategy more quickly than some of the adults in the house.  When kitchen business threatened to shut down the game, Ehren moved it to a table of his own, so they could continue.

They played one full game.  Christian won, and they began a second.  Who knows how long they would have continued if they hadn't been interrupted by more birthday festivities with the grandparents.  {Funny side note: They kept calling the Bishop the "British."} 

The game is a perfect introduction to chess.  It's just like regular chess, except that on each turn, you draw a card that tells you which type of piece to move.  If you can't move that piece, you lose your turn.  If you can move that piece, you must make a move.  Coolest gift ever {from Mom's point of view}!  I can't wait to play with them.

Birthdays (and Cakes) in Review

Wow, were these boys born {almost} seven years ago?  I must be getting old.  Continuing the cake parade from my One Cake Wonder post, here are birthdays 1-5.  You can see the years {most of them} I was tired and not too creative in the cake department.

Fifth Birthday - Ehren
{no picture of Christian w/ his cupcake due to camera problems}

Fourth Birthday - Ehren at preschool

{Crazy!  I bought them Scooby cakes from the store!}

Fourth Birthday - Christian at preschool
{Actually, we couldn't bring homemade cake to preschool.}

Third Birthday - Christian and Ehren

Second Birthday

First Birthday
{Ooohh la la, chocolate frosting from the a can!}

First Birthday - Ehren and Christian
{I had a lot of fun making this figure eight race track cake.}

One Cake Wonder

When it comes to birthdays, I am a one-cake wonder.  The cake may take many shapes, but underneath, it's always my mom's devil's food cake with "Sharon's White Frosting."  Ehren and Christian's birthday is coming up soon, and tomorrow is the day they are taking birthday treats to school to share with their classmates.  Tomorrow morning, they will wake up to these little monster cupcakes:

Last year, Ehren and Christian wanted a strawberry cake, so they got this version:

Mom's Devil's Food Cake

1 c strong coffee

1 c buttermilk or sour milk (just add a couple of teaspoons of vinegar to the milk to sour it)

2/3 c oil

2 c flour

1 3/4 c sugar

1 Tbsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 c cocoa

1 egg

Mix all ingredients (if the coffee is still hot, add the egg after mixing the other ingredients).  Batter will be thin.  Pour into either two round cake pans, one rectangular cake pan, or 24 cup cakes.  If using a cake pan, make sure to butter and flour the pan before adding the batter.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes (or shorter if making cupcakes). 

Sharon's White Frosting (Sharon is my Godmother)

1/4 c sugar

3/4 c light corn syrup with vanilla

2 egg whites

Bring sugar and corn syrup to a rolling boil over medium high heat.  Stir constantly.  Let boil for about 1 minute.  Beat egg whites until stiff and pour the sugar/corn syrup mixture into the egg whites in a thin stream while beating on high speed.  Frosting will be soft.  It's a lot like marshmallow.  1-2 drops of red food coloring makes a beautiful pale pink frosting!

Wordless Wednesday: Valentine

I just love the "roots of love" on Anna's Valentine from her brother Ehren.

twenty five percent more mom

I have exciting news.  Soon we will be seeing this scene a little more often {me wrangling my three}. 

I now have signed papers in my possession that say I will finally be working part-time (instead of full-time) starting this summer!  I know this is only a small step forward for our family, but this is a major accomplishment at my office.  I have been trying to make this happen on and off for about five years.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, boss!