Yesterday was Brianna's 7th birthday. Seven years old? That seems so impossible. I have actually been getting used to the 7-year old idea for the last couple of months, but now that the school year is winding down I have to get used to saying my daughter is about to start second grade. And that is just WAY too old for my liking.
I'm so thankful we have such simple kids. We spent the morning playing a couple of games, doing our schoolwork (just math) and then spent the afternoon at our homeschool co-op where she celebrated her birthday with many of her closest friends. When we got home, she was so excited to see that Stephen was already home from work, because that meant she was allowed to open her birthday presents from us. We got her a portable CD player and a custom-made T-shirt that says, "Jeep Hair Don't Care". Hunter and Brianna tend to fight over music in the car (she wants it, and she wants it LOUD, and he either doesn't want it at all or wants to hear the CD without her singing) so we thought the CD player would be awesome for her. Sure enough, she has used it consistently since we got it for her - so much so that I realize how many batteries we are going to be going through... We got her the t-shirt because we like to ride in the Jeep with the windows taken off completely, and her hair gets CRAZY. Last time we went fishing Stephen noted, "Jeep hair, don't care!" and we decided a t-shirt was necessary. She requested Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner so that's where we went and had an awesome time. We came home and made brownies for dessert.
Today, Stephen stayed home from work. Unfortunately, it was because Brianna had allergy testing. I know that she was so nervous. We didn't really know what to expect. When we pulled into the parking lot, I turned the car off and said, "Do you want me to pray before we go inside?" She shrugged her shoulders and nonchalantly said, "No, why would you?" I shook my head and began gathering my items in my bookbag. I turned around to tell her we could get out of the car and saw her eyes were filling with tears and her face was getting all red and splotchy. She said, "Well, maybe could you pray?" I got into the backseat with her and cradled her while I prayed. She was so scared about those multiple skin pricks. I promised her I would be with her every step of the way, and that we would take it one step at a time. For example, going inside wasn't scary! Talking to the doctor wasn't scary! We could do all those things easily. And that's how we made it through.
When the nurse came in with the huge tray of allergens I asked if she would walk Brianna through the procedure. She showed Bri all the different allergens that are tested, and then let her "scrape" herself with a practice piece so she would know what to expect. Brianna laid on her stomach and giggled while the nurse wrote all the numbers up and down her back. Her voice was shaky and so were her hands, so I know she was a nervous wreck, but she was so brave. Within seconds, her control prick was raised up and already itching. Fifteen minutes of squirming and wriggling around passed by (much quicker than usual since I brought the Kindle for her to play with) and she was done! And all that she's allergic to are oak trees, hickory tress and dust mites. Thank the Lord that we know now, and have a plan for helping her with these yucky allergies. What a trooper. I told her tonight that she's my hero. Being brave doesn't mean that you don't cry or you aren't scared, it just means you have the courage to keep going when you are scared.
And then when we got home we had the whole afternoon with Stephen because we finished all our school work before our doctor's appointment. And for being so brave, he decided to take us all to Fayetteville to eat at a new-to-us restaurant called Mod Pizza. And afterwards we went across the street to the mall and got cookies from Great American Cookie Company! So now we have eaten out two times in the past two days, which is utterly unusual for our family, but I have absolutely loved being out and about with my husband and children. Stephen's work schedule was so rough there for a while that I am just soaking up the time when we are all four together.
Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Bri's 5th Birthday - Rainbow Cupcakes and Zebra Cake
So, for Brianna's 5th birthday (almost a year ago *ahem*) she asked for rainbow cupcakes and a zebra cake. Obviously I obliged, thanks to All You and Cookies, Cupcakes and Cardio.
First, the pictures from the party:
The rainbow cupcakes:
All you need is whatever cake mix you want for the cupcakes (Bri chose chocolate) and then vanilla or cream cheese frosting, so you can mix in blue food coloring for the "sky". Spread the frosting on the cupcakes. Take an Airheads Extreme Rainbow Berry candy belt, fold it, and stick it in both sides of the cupcake. Press on a few mini marshmallows around the rainbow for clouds.
Super easy and so cute! I will tell you that the next day, the Airheads will start melting and become really slimy. I feel it's my duty to tell you that if you have any leftover on top of cupcakes - just go ahead and eat them all the first day!
I got the zebra cake recipe from Cookies, Cupcakes and Cardio. She is an amazing blogger who makes you feel like you can do anything in the kitchen!
If you go to her link I posted above, you'll see her YouTube tutorial on how to make this cake.
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups all purpose flour (300 g)
2 cups sugar (400 g)
¾ cups vegetable oil (180 mL)
1 teaspoon vanilla (5 mL)
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder (~11 mL)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 cup milk (240 mL)
white, pink, and black gel paste
vanilla buttercream (that is a link to her homemade recipe)
black fondant
pink buttercream
Wilton tip 1A
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine flour, sugar, baking powder, vegetable oil and vanilla on low/medium until ingredients are mixed together.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on low in between additions.
Slowly add the milk while the mixer is on and mix until all ingredients are completely combined. Divide batter into three different bowls with one bowl having half of the batter and the other two having a quarter each.
Color the large bowl with white coloring, and the smaller two with black and pink respectively. Mix coloring until no light streaks remain.
Spray two 8” pans with non-stick spray and line bottom with parchment/baking/wax paper. Place four tablespoons of white batter into the center of each pan. Then, directly into the middle of the white batter, place two tablespoons of black batter. Directly into the center of the black batter, place two tablespoons of pink batter. Repeat white/black/pink batter additions until all the batter is used up or pans are ⅔ full. Place pans into oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, remove from pan, and cool completely on a wire rack.
Once cake is cooled, level, stack and cover in white buttercream. To cut the fondant pieces, roll fondant out very thinly and using a rolling cutter (pizza or pastry) slice long, narrow stripes and arrange on white cake as desired. To finish the cake off, using the pink buttercream with Wilton 1A tip, pipe a small beaded border along the bottom of the cake.
(Photo credit: my dear old dad!)
Now, I know that mine does not look professional. I couldn't get the fondant to work like she was getting hers to work on the YouTube video. I have issues with fondant. But I'm still happy with how it turned out, and I really love the inside.
First, the pictures from the party:
The rainbow cupcakes:
All you need is whatever cake mix you want for the cupcakes (Bri chose chocolate) and then vanilla or cream cheese frosting, so you can mix in blue food coloring for the "sky". Spread the frosting on the cupcakes. Take an Airheads Extreme Rainbow Berry candy belt, fold it, and stick it in both sides of the cupcake. Press on a few mini marshmallows around the rainbow for clouds.
Super easy and so cute! I will tell you that the next day, the Airheads will start melting and become really slimy. I feel it's my duty to tell you that if you have any leftover on top of cupcakes - just go ahead and eat them all the first day!
I got the zebra cake recipe from Cookies, Cupcakes and Cardio. She is an amazing blogger who makes you feel like you can do anything in the kitchen!
If you go to her link I posted above, you'll see her YouTube tutorial on how to make this cake.
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups all purpose flour (300 g)
2 cups sugar (400 g)
¾ cups vegetable oil (180 mL)
1 teaspoon vanilla (5 mL)
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder (~11 mL)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 cup milk (240 mL)
white, pink, and black gel paste
vanilla buttercream (that is a link to her homemade recipe)
black fondant
pink buttercream
Wilton tip 1A
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine flour, sugar, baking powder, vegetable oil and vanilla on low/medium until ingredients are mixed together.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on low in between additions.
Slowly add the milk while the mixer is on and mix until all ingredients are completely combined. Divide batter into three different bowls with one bowl having half of the batter and the other two having a quarter each.
Color the large bowl with white coloring, and the smaller two with black and pink respectively. Mix coloring until no light streaks remain.
Spray two 8” pans with non-stick spray and line bottom with parchment/baking/wax paper. Place four tablespoons of white batter into the center of each pan. Then, directly into the middle of the white batter, place two tablespoons of black batter. Directly into the center of the black batter, place two tablespoons of pink batter. Repeat white/black/pink batter additions until all the batter is used up or pans are ⅔ full. Place pans into oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, remove from pan, and cool completely on a wire rack.
Once cake is cooled, level, stack and cover in white buttercream. To cut the fondant pieces, roll fondant out very thinly and using a rolling cutter (pizza or pastry) slice long, narrow stripes and arrange on white cake as desired. To finish the cake off, using the pink buttercream with Wilton 1A tip, pipe a small beaded border along the bottom of the cake.
(Photo credit: my dear old dad!)
Now, I know that mine does not look professional. I couldn't get the fondant to work like she was getting hers to work on the YouTube video. I have issues with fondant. But I'm still happy with how it turned out, and I really love the inside.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Family Trip to Georgia
We were able to take a family trip to Georgia over Labor Day. Here are the highlights!
If you have 3 minutes and 48 seconds, I highly recommend you watch this video. There is no visual stimulation, but the audio will more than make up for that, I promise. Brianna made up songs all the way to Georgia and I was able to capture part of one. I couldn't video her though or she would have stopped. This is hilarious. I can't wait to have her listen to this in ten years!
Baseball: 25 seconds
Baseball: 40 seconds
We celebrated Lauren AND Kaleb's birthdays which were in August:
Trip to the Georgia Aquarium:
If you have 3 minutes and 48 seconds, I highly recommend you watch this video. There is no visual stimulation, but the audio will more than make up for that, I promise. Brianna made up songs all the way to Georgia and I was able to capture part of one. I couldn't video her though or she would have stopped. This is hilarious. I can't wait to have her listen to this in ten years!
Baseball: 25 seconds
Baseball: 40 seconds
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