Making Rainbow Cake!!

This past week, we celebrated something really fun in our family!

Hunkahubby got his very own ART STUDIO and we had an opening reception/birthday celebration for him.

To commemorate the event - the kids and I decided to bake an extra special cake.

I had seen this rainbow cake online several times and wanted to try it (because I LOVE tie-dye) and thought this was a great opportunity to try it.

So following are some pictures from the cake making and then a few pictures from the reception!!

I cheated and didn't use the recipe listed in the link above - I just bought vanilla cake mix and butter cream icing.  Yum!

Divide the cake batter evenly into six bowls. 

Use Wilton food coloring gel and dye each bowl of batter to the desired color.   

I used rainbow order:

Red (not picture), Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple

For one pan, start with purple and pour in half of the mixture.  Pour in half the blue, half the green, half the yellow, half the orange and half the red.  Do not mix it up!

For the other half of the cake, do the opposite.  Start with red and go to purple.

Bake the cake per the instructions, let it cool and then ice the bottom half and stack the top half.

I was very sad to cover up the pretty colors!

To explain this next part - Jackson Pollock is one of Hunkahubby's favorite artists.

Here is an example of Pollock's work - "Galaxy":

So - I 'decorated' the cake with this in mind . . .

Big fun mess, right?

Also - Hunkahubby has a sculpture - HERMAN - who has appeared in several paintings

since his creation.  We love Herman.  He holds great meaning.

So I thought Herman should be on the cake.  Hunkahubby and I did our best to make

a Herman out of fondant and toothpicks.

Then HE got painted.  Herman is a part of the art, ya know!

I had bought an extra box of cake mix and the kids wanted to do their own - so we only used red and blue this time (Spiderman cake, in their words) and they helped ice and decorate a small flat cake and some cupcakes.

I was so excited to cut into the cake and see how it looked!  I was not disappointed! 

Here, my dear friend Mary is modeling the cake:

Taste the Rainbow, Mary!

The cake was a hit. 

And the guest of honor and his studio were a hit, as well!!

Here he is in front of his studio sign.  (Find out more at sketchbookdiaries.com).

And here we are - the whole family.

We are so proud of you!!!

Belated Birthday Post

So - Hunkahubby had a birthday this week.

And I've been too busy to post about it -- so I'll let you see the highlights . . .

Here he is on "party" day. Isn't he handsome??

Opening an ornery gift from my Dad.

the cake

the cheese bread (which accompanied the pizzas)

the brownies (are you hungry now? I am!)

the opening of presents (just for Sandy!)

Grandpa and Grandson (just cause they are so cute with their matching hair)

And a glimpse into what I gave Hunkahubby for his birthday on Monday.

I hope you had a great day honey! I love you so much!!!

Happy Birthday Drama Llama!!

Today is my niece Jamie's birthday. My little (okay, not so little) Jamie is not necessarily having the best birthday as she is diabetic and she is expecting a little one soon (as you can most likely tell from the picture) - so she is in the hospital on her birthday. Not necessarily a fun way to spend your birthday - so I thought I would cheer her up by making her 'famous' on my blog. :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR JAMIE
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!

Since you're having to watch your sugar intake . . . I thought I'd give you a virtual cake!

(Image from http://www.bonnboni.com/)

I just want to say that I am so proud of you Jamie. You have not had an easy life - but I see you finally becoming a woman who is sure of herself and wants to do great things. You and Sam are going to be awesome parents! I am so thankful that I get to be your aunt. You are fun, and talented, and beautiful - and don't you forget it!! :-)

And now . . . in honor of your birthday . . . Christopher Collamabus would like to recite a Llama Limerick for you.

There once was a beautiful llama
Who was friends with a lovely Mama
But they came to blows
Over eating potatoes
Then decided it was just too much drama . . .

Okay - that one was bad -- my limerick brain hasn't been used much lately.

Anyway Jamie - Happy Birthday! I hope you enjoyed your very own blog post. :-)

The catch up Blog

Okay - so I've been bad about updating . . . again.

I have to say that being done with school is a really big relief (until I start getting those bills . . .). I feel like I have a lot more time to be creative. I've been baking a lot and doing crafty things with the kids.

The 13th was my birthday and I spent it with my hubby and kids. Hunkahubby made me a chocolate cake with caramel icing (Grandma's recipe). It was yummy. They also got me lots of cool gifts - one of which, I have to share with you here . . .



Yes - I got a Cabbage Patch Kid. But not just any Cabbage Patch Kid. A special edition that also has a CARE BEAR inside. Yes - I admit that I am a child of the 80s and I was very excited when I opened this present. :-) It's staying in the box.

My honey also made me one of my favorite meals - steak with cheese and mushrooms and MASHED TATERS. Woohoo!!! I got to have lima beans too which was a big sacrifice, because he doesn't like them and I do. I have a wonderful husband.

My kids and I also made Christmas cookies the other night. It was a lot of fun and I finally learned to step back after giving them icing instructions and just let them create - they did a surprisingly good job. Here is some of their "work":



They had a blast. We already saved 3 cookies for Santa. :-)

Today my Dad and brother and families are coming to our house for Christmas. We have never had Christmas at our house and I am excited. I will post some pictures later. We got my Dad a rather large gift - and I actually wrapped it. Should be a fun day.

I'll end this post with this quote:

"If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest, craziest, most dysfunctional family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair. Because five minutes at the fair, you'll be going, 'you know, we're alright. We are dang near royalty.'"

-Jeff Foxworthy