All posts in holidays

My Birthday Cake

by Erin on February 19, 2012 in food, holidays with 2 Comments

Well after two weeks of various family members being sick, we all finally got together for my birthday. I decided to go with a cake I saw on Pinterest. And while I was a teeny bit disappointed in how close two of the colors were to each other, I say “Bravo!” to myself for not only making my first 4 layered cake but also for making my own icing!

And there you have it. :) I had a wonderful time with family and yummy food.

Directions for cake:
2 boxes of white cake mix (I used the 4 egg whites option)
Add in gel coloring (I used Wilton’s Violet)

Buttercream recipe as follows, from Glorious Treats:

American Buttercream Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) butter (salted, or unsalted)
1/4 teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (best quality available)
2-3 tablespoons heavy cream, half and half or milk.

*Optional- As mentioned above, I like a cream cheese version of this frosting best. The cream cheese adds to the creamy texture, and cuts down on the sweetness just a bit. If desired, for a very light cream cheese flavor add 1/2 block (4 oz). cream cheese, leaving the other ingredients (as listed above) the same. For a more traditional cream cheese flavor, reduce the butter to 1/2 cup, and add 1 block (8 oz.) of cream cheese. If using a full block of cream cheese, you can reduce the cream or milk to 1 tablespoon total.

Directions-
* In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, beat butter (on medium speed) until completely smooth (30 seconds to a minute). (If you are adding cream cheese, add it now, then beat until smooth)
* Add salt (if needed).
* One cup at time, add 2 cups of powdered sugar, beating after each addition.
* Add vanilla, or other flavorings and beat to combine.
* Add about 1 tablespoon of cream, and continue beating.
* Add the remaining 2 cups powdered sugar, one at a time.
* Add an additional 1-2 tablespoons cream until desired consistency is reached. If you want to pipe the frosting on cupcakes, the frosting should be nice and thick. Continue to beat another minute or so. The frosting should now be smooth and fluffy.

I did go with the cream cheese option. I also made a thicker frosting even though I was just icing the cake (no piping involved). I was really shooting for a white frosting so I also added in a bit of Wilton’s White Icing Coloring. Made a world of difference (to me anyway, lol).

Early Birthday Presents!

by Erin on February 5, 2012 in Challenge, holidays, pure prattle with 1 Comment

So, a photo of me, two years ago. That’s what this post is supposed to contain. So, there you go. Me, two years ago, in the photo to the right. ;) Not much has changed. Similar haircut though I have bangs now since the baby ripped the hair at the front hairline out. Wisps. That’s what I’ve freaking got now. And it’s red. I do wish my skin was nice like that. Pregnancy hormones read my skin the riot act and, well, it’s not nice.

My birthday is in 2 days. The husband made the mistake of telling me he got my gifts (due to the Super Bowl, we’re celebrating next Sunday). I suggested, since he gets home late from work, that he give them to me today. :) So he did. I got a cute Willow Tree figurine (The Quilt), which I think was wink at how the baby is so attached to me. I also got a Pandora charm for my bracelet. Purple, well, amethyst. (I am so lucky that I love purple and my birthstone is purple!) It’s very pretty. And the other gift I got was this:

Isn’t it adorable?! The blanket is really in water. It’s not fake ‘plastic’ water. It’s like a snow globe. :) It has a few meanings to me. One, we just got a new washer/dryer, front loading. That took forever and a day to get. Then, the whole patience thing. I’ll admit, I’ve got a short fuse and need to learn to be more patient. Also, the baby. It was 10 years of waiting to be ready to have another. And she was definitely worth the wait. :)

I’m so ready to start the new week. I can’t wait to make my birthday cake. It’s going to be fabulous! ;)

Busy Moms Choose Coffee

by Erin on November 28, 2011 in geekness, holidays, pure prattle with Comments Off

And don’t try to tell me they don’t. Ok, well, I’ll accept some form of caffeine, but I’m telling you, that’s a consolation prize. Coffee is where it’s at.

It’s been 5 months since I became a mom to two. I think—keyword *I*—I’m doing a pretty decent job thus far. I imagine it’s easier for someone to go to two/three/four kids while the kiddos are still young and you’re not out of diapers for quite a few years or set in your ways with various other aspects (like sleeping through the night). However, I will say that this here cutie pie to the left has been sleeping through the night for the past two or three months now. *phew* She even goes to bed on her own! That’s right, she lays down in her crib while awake and goes to sleep. AWESOME. And the best part—knocking heavily on wood—is that she goes to bed about 9:30/10:00 and sleeps until about 8:00/9:00. Yep. That’s right. Now you can see why *I* think I’m doing a pretty decent job so far.

Now, one would think that since I’ve got a ten-year-old and a five-month-old who both sleep through the night I’m functioning at 100% or even better during the day. Au contraire, mon frere (well, mes amis, actually). Half the time it’s like the walking dead around here, and believe when I tell you that’s not so big a compliment for zombies.

I think I’ve just been super swamped since August. We had something every weekend in October and November was pretty packed as well. Funny enough, we’ve only got one thing planned in December.

We did manage to squeeze in buying a new tree this year. Our current/old one is 9 years old and one of the ones you have to put each branch on one-by-one by color codes. No lights either. Pain in the butt. Christmas shopping is just about finished as well. And thanks to our annual trip to Hershey, the baby made out like a bandit with winter clothes.

Unfortunately our dryer is on it’s last leg. It’s not heating up all the time. I called the repair place and they suggested taking the vent tube off and running a cycle without anything on it. I did that and nothing but cold air shooting out. Broken. So it became a game of buy a new one or fix this one (5 years old). We chose to buy a new one. Only, we bought a dryer and a washer, lol. But you can’t beat 50% off! So now I’ll have one of the fancy front loaders with all the buttons and bells and whistles. Geek heaven. Too bad it won’t arrive for 4-7 days. So we’re looking at Wednesday the earliest.

AND I was just told that we’re in charge of crafts for the holiday party. I’ve got something up my sleeve and will be sure to share once I work it out. :)

Now, where’s that 4th cup of coffee?!

Spooooky

by Erin on October 5, 2011 in holidays, pure prattle with 1 Comment

It’s so that time of year that I oh so love: fall. Or autumn. Whichever you prefer. Makes no difference to me, as they mean the same thing—pumpkin!

I love pumpkin. Matter of fact, my fall started September 6th this year. That’s the day, for those who are unfamiliar, that the Pumpkin Spice Latte hit Starbucks once again. Yum. Something about pumpkin just puts me in the fall mood. I’ve been buying anything pumpkin I can find and have only been disappointed in one item: pumpkin spice hot chocolate. :/

So with the arrival of pumpkin in early September, I was tempted to get my fall/Halloween decorations but I held out until now.

As you can tell I’m big into Halloween decorating but not the scary kind. Heck, I don’t watch horror movies. My big Halloween movie-fest includes Disney’s Halloweentown movies and Hocus Pocus. *Ü*

We’ve got a busy month with something scheduled each weekend day. Birthday parties, baptism class, apple picking, the great pumpkin train, and meeting up with friends. Oh, and the dentist. (That I’ll admit I’m not looking forward to.)

Today I have the foot doctor (words of advice: don’t ever do something to the ball of your foot) and then I need to head to Michael’s for some “stuff” for my Halloween cards. I have an idea in mind…. I just need to figure out how to incorporate both kids into it, lol.

Have a spooktacular day!

Four Random Words

by Erin on August 23, 2011 in holidays, pure prattle with 4 Comments

corner
kiss
cream
creeper

These are the 4 random words that I am to write about. Hmmm… lol. Let’s see if I can pull this off.

Corner: This one is actually an easy one. I sit sort of facing the left of my desk. Behind the left part of my desk is the corner of the wall (well, there is about a foot-and-a-half from the desk to the left wall) and I’m constantly looking at that corner. It’s dull. I need to come up with something to put in that corner while keeping it simple as I’ve got photos on the wall directly above/behind the desk. Can’t clash. I’ll probably hit up Pinterest or Etsy for some ideas.

Kiss: Another easy one… nothing better than a baby kiss! The baby is growing like a weed and it’s amazing watching her grow and expand on her personality. She’s definitely a baby that likes to make her presence known, whether it’s via soft coos or loud, raspy screams. But give her a big old smooch on the cheek and she’ll melt in your arms and try to kiss you back. Pure love.

Cream: This one made me think for a bit because I see ‘cream’ and immediately think of the color. And I’ve got nothing. BUT while I was walking past my entertainment center I spotted my newest Halloween additions:

That got me to thinking about Halloween and the fall and bam! pumpkin spice creamer. ;) So now I’m on a hunt for it. And Starbucks should be putting out their Pumpkin Spice Latte soon as well!

Finally, creeper. This one I am stumped on. My immediate thought is creeper = someone who creeps around. Which makes me think of the kiddo creeping over to the baby and trying to pick her up after I’ve told him not to. ;) But then I’m not so sure that’s what creeper is. But this is my ‘game’ and I’m sticking with someone who creeps. ;)

And now I’m off to inspect the house for damage from the earthquake (I highly doubt there is any; while it was felt, it was minor). My first one ever. And I did not like it. :/