2nd Birthday: Sesame Street

Somehow ButterBean is 2 years old! He is growing up so fast and each day more of his personality emerges. He is one of the funniest people I know!
His love of all things Elmo/Abby/Sesame Street prompted the theme for his 2nd birthday party: Sesame Street! I had so much fun planning this party!

Decorations were easy because it seems that every party store has a section dedicated to Sesame Street. Any bold primary colors work for this party! I picked up some plates, napkins, balloons, and table cloth at Party City. Michaels provided some cute little cardboard cutouts in the scrapbooking section. We had the party at Gatsby's work since our house would not accomodate the amount of people we expected to come. 

The food was the most fun to make. I made the same turkey sandwiches that I made for his first birthday (big success both times). We also had Abby Magic Fairy wands -- fruit on bamboo skewers

Burt & Ernie veggie sticks with Ranch dressing

Big Bird popcorn puffs (ButterBean gags on  the hulls of popcorn, so we had to get the puffy kind)

Goldfish crackers in honor of Elmo's goldfish, Dorothy. I considered getting ButterBean a real goldfish for his birthday, but I decided I didn't want to take care of one!

Elmo and Big Bird crackers and Sesame Street juice boxes were picked up at Babies R Us on a diaper run, but you can find those lots of places. 

For dessert we had Cookie Monster Cookies and Elmo cupcakes. 

The kids played Oscar's Trash Toss, which was just throwing crumpled news paper into my tiny compost bucket that looks like a mini trash can. Running up and down the hallway was another favorite!

 ButterBean got more presents that we know what to do with! It's time for a toy purge in this house!

I had a great time with this party and most importantly, I think ButterBean did too!

After the party ButterBean insisted I put a tie on him!

party favors!!

Mother's Day

I had a marvelous Mother's Day! My own little bundle can't do much for his mama yet, but I know one day he is going to bring me home a droopy marigold that he planted himself in a little pot at school and I'm going to gush over it like is was the finest rose! This Mother's Day was more about my own mom! It happened to be her birthday this Mother's Day. She has done a superb job raising me and my sisters and I will always look up to her!

Soooo, I made her a birthday cake of course: Martha Stewart's Lemon Cake! It's so rich, it's almost like a pound cake. It calls for lemon zest, so I definitely used organic lemons for this cake. I've made it a couple of other times and it always turns our delicious. (This is actually a picture from another time that I made it.)

And I made all of us a nice little brunchy breakfast. My favorite were the rhubarb scones that I made with rhubarb from my mom's backyard. Yummm. 

I have more rhubarb in my fridge and I plan to make these again! I recommend them good with a cup of tea, like all good baked goods should be enjoyed!

We also went over to celebrate Gatsby's mother and got to relax some more in the sun! Perfect weather for the cousins to romp in the backyard! ButterBean had a "hair-raising" experience: learning to drive! We all got a good laugh at his static style!

The pictures don't do justice to the amount of hair that was sticking up!

he was very frustrated that he couldn't stand in the car

ButterBean had a very in depth conversation with his godfather. It sounded pretty serious!

Mother's day was a perfect example of balancing school and family. I had a big test on Monday, but there was no way I was missing this amazing family time. I was able to completely forget about the test for a few hours and enjoy good food, good weather, and good company! I got in a couple hours of studying between celebrations while ButterBean and Gatsby napped. For anyone considering anesthesia school, believe me, you're world will be utterly consumed with studying! Take a break sometimes and forget about it! You don't (and you won't) ace every test! And that's ok! Happy Mother's Day to all the overly busy mom's out there!

Daddy and baby saints

This house likes saints. I myself am partial to St. Francis, St. Anthony, and St. Gianna. ButterBean loves his wooden saint doll that the Little Stay at Home Momma made him. You can't see in the picture, but it's St. Dominic, another of my favorites. :)

Future saint?

Today is my Gatsby's birthday. He has a slight obsession with St. John Baptist de LaSalle. A common phrase said at Lasallian schools is for one person to say "Live Jesus in our hearts" and the others to respond "Forever". So, instead of a typical birthday message, I used his favorite phrase on top of his marble birthday cake.

He appreciated my humor. The cake was a hit and pretty yummy too. I will definitely be making the fudge frosting again - it was easy and deliciously fudgy!  (See below for the recipe)
In other news, our little ButterBean is now holding on to any and every surface to pull himself up and has progressed to shuffling along the side of the couch. It will be a matter of weeks I think before he starts walking. Is there a patron saint of new walkers?
Baby proofing has begun: gates, outlet covers, moving everything out of reach. 
Or, when in doubt, put the baby in a box to contain him!

Marble Cake and Fudge Frosting(from Baking Bites)

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 tbsp water, hot
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream (regular or low fat)
1 cup milk (any kind - coconut milk would be fun to try...MmmMmm)

1) Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.
2) In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar, cocoa powder, hot water and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Whisk to combine and set aside.
3) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4) In a large bowl, cream together butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla and sour cream. Working in two or three additions, alternate adding flour mixture and milk to butter mixture (beginning and ending with flour). Mix.
5) Scoop out 1 cup of cake batter and stir into cocoa mixture.
6) Spread white batter into prepared pan. Top with chocolate batter and drag a knife through to create a swirling pattern.
7) Bake for 32-36 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when lightly pressed.
Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Fudgy Frosting
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup milk (any kind - again, I think it would be fun to try with coconut milk)
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

1) Combine sugar and cocoa in a medium saucepan and whisk until cocoa is dissolved. 
2) Add butter, milk, corn syrup and salt, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil (about 10 minutes). Continue boiling; stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes. 
3) Remove from heat and cool to room temperature (approx 1 hour). 
4) Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla and pour on cake. Frosting will spread easily and will set up itself after a few minutes.