Big Smiles

I realized during the last few days of school that this summer was going to be a very special one.  It is the first time since James was just days old that I would be able to spend all day with him for more than just a weekend and short vacations.  I vowed to myself that I was going to make the most of the next few weeks with Little Man, savor the experience, and know that I am making a difference in his life during the time that we will be together.

We started the summer off by joining in on one of the activities from Mountain Adventure Week.  Paul and I decided that it would be a good idea for Little Man and I to join some of the other moms in the church for a big playdate at the park.  Little Man and I packed up this morning and headed for the park, ready to have some fun.  With all the people around he became a little overstimulated and just started watching what was going on, watching the big kids play and run around.  We did sit and play with a beach ball for a while, although he was more interested in the grass, and then came the big fun, we ventured over to the swings.  At first he sat back in the swing, relaxing and just watching everyone around us, then he perked up a little and started to have a lot of fun.

Seeing the big smile on Little Man's face as he was gently swinging back and forth was such a blessing.  It is these little things that I have missed so much having to work.

We are so blessed to have a son who is happy almost all the time and a church community that welcomes everyone.  While we were waiting for a swing, one of the little girls got out of her swing, then came up to me and told me that she was done and that Little Man could have a turn.  It is so nice to have a community of believers who are there to lift each other up and support them and have fun with them and "experience life together."  This is likely the only activity that we do with Mountain Adventure Week this year, but knowing that we are able to go and have fun with others from the church, and providing me with an opportunity to meet and spend time with other moms is so wonderful.

Birthday Cake

On February 14, 2009 my grandmother went home to be with the Lord.  During the time right after her death, I was able to spend time with my family and gather some recipes that were family favorites.  One of the recipes I found that I knew that I wanted to keep handy was the "Birthday Cake" recipe.  I faithfully copied it down, word for word, then tucked it away so that I would be able to find it when I was ready to pull it out and make it.

Four years later, I finally had an occasion to make it.  In April my younger sister, and Little Man's Auntie J, celebrated her 18th birthday.  A couple weeks after her birthday, the family came down to visit and I finally made the cake.  

Auntie J has been going through a pink and zebra print thing lately, so I decided to go with that for the cake.

The pink didn't come out quite as pink as I would have liked, and the frosting wasn't quite what I wanted, but the cake itself tasted great.  The recipe calls for red food coloring, and to make three layers, but I opted for two layers and the zebra type pattern (made by adding a scoop of one color, then the other right in the middle, continuing until the pan is approximately 2/3 full).

Repaal Birthday Cake

• 2/3 c butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 cups sifted cake flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup thin milk
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 egg whites
• 1 cup sugar

Lightly cream butter and sugar. Sift flour and baking powder three times. Add milk, lemon juice, almond extract and vanilla extract alternately with flour.

Beat egg whites until they hold a point and gradually beat in sugar, continue until stiff and glassy. Fold meringue into batter.

Pour 1/3 of batter in a bowl. Blend in 5 drops red food coloring.

Red layer goes between two white layers.

Graduation Memories

Last week my little sister, and Little Man's Auntie Julia graduated from high school, and we had the privilege of going north to spend the time with her and celebrate with her.  In February-ish I decided on the project that I would tackle for her graduation present.  I had been cruising Pinterest, specifically looking for quilt ideas, and stumbled across some memory quilts, and it hit me, that's what I wanted to make, and so it started.

Shortly after I decided on what I wanted to make, I had to start thinking about a pattern, which was MUCH more difficult.  I drafted some ideas, settled on one, and started crunching numbers to know how much fabric I needed to get.  Originally I wanted to do lots of color, but decided that simple is better.  So, we headed to JoAnn Fabrics to look for the fabric that would be perfect for the project.  I stared at the wall of fabric and a beautiful greyish-silver stood out to me, and I knew that it was one of the fabrics that would make it into the quilt.  Shortly after, I was able to find the black and pink fabrics that would compliment the grey.

And, then I started cutting and sewing.  Finding pictures that I would need and printing them onto fabric, cutting those out, and sewing some more.  I wasn't sure that the project would be completed before we left, so I took a Friday off to work on it, without interruptions, while Little Man was at daycare.  Fortunately, I was able to pick him up around lunch, and we shared the rest of the afternoon together, AND I was able to get the quilt done by the time we left.

The night of graduation, we gave Julia her quilt, telling her that the idea was that those that attended her party would be able to sign the back with words of encouragement, and a small token of love for her to take with her to college in the fall.  Almost everyone signed the back of her quilt, some just with names, others with wonderful words of encouragement.

This quilt posed challenges and triumphs for me, and continues to inspire me to do more.  Within days of finishing this project, I decided on the next one.  My husband has TONS of t-shirts that are sitting in storage, the next project will transform them from t-shirts into a quilt.

Cake Mix Cookies

Our little family just got home from a "mini-vacation" with my family to celebrate Auntie Julia's high school graduation.

When we got home, we were glad that we had food for lunches and dinner the rest of the week.  Today, during lunch, I realized that I didn't have dessert, and I missed it a little.  So for the second half of the school day, and most of the afternoon, I thought about what I could make for desserts for the rest of the week (yes, with only 2 days left).  We ate a lot of brownies this year, mostly because they are easy to make, and store, and a box can last us for almost 2 weeks of lunches.  I decided that brownies were out, and cookies were in...cake mix cookies.

I was first introduced to them a couple months ago when our family gathered with some friends for dinner and fellowship.  One of the other couples brought cake mix cookies.  They apparently are all the rage right now, and I just couldn't get enough of them.  I asked for the recipe, which she told me right away, and I promptly forgot.  Tonight I found a version that I THINK is pretty much the same as what I was told.

The recipe is pretty basic, and can be changed to suit the palate of whoever is making them.

Our friend only had a lemon cake mix, so she mixed in blueberries (AMAZING).  We had quite the variety of cake mixes to choose from, with a few different mix-ins.  I settled on Devil's Food cake mix with Heath bits mixed in.

Into the bowl went the cake mix, oil, and eggs.

And then I grabbed my trusty whisk...BAD IDEA.

Whenever I whip up brownies or cake, I ALWAYS grab the whisk, so tonight I thought I would do the same.  Yeah, that was a bad idea.  This mix is THICK and certainly more like a dough than a batter, so I spent the next few minutes trying to scrape the cookie mix out of the whisk and back into the bowl, and finally, I had a nice dough.

In went the Heath bits, off came the rings, and I started mixing with my hands.

Whenever I make cookies, I pull out my cookie scoop, trying to make sure that every cookie is the same size and onto the cookie sheet she went.

Nine minutes later, I had these beauties.

Totally don't want to wait for tomorrow's lunch to try them, so a couple of them "accidentally" broke when I was taking them off the cookie sheet.  In our family, broken cookies need to be eaten that evening.  

So the basic recipe for these cookies...

Ingredients:
- 1 package yellow cake mix
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350.  Grease cookie sheets.
- Pour cake mix into large bowl.  Stir in the oil and eggs until well blended.  Mix in chocolate chips.  Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven.  Remove from pan to cool on wire racks.

The possibilities for combinations are endless.  Looking forward to being able to try some other combinations.