Through The Eyes Of A 5 Year Old

As he gets older his Owenisims are getting a bit more sophisticated. A conversation as recounted by Sam:

Sam: I love you Owen
Owen: I love you God
Sam: Did you say "God"?
Owen: No, I said, I love you Dad
Sam: Oh, I though you said God; it's OK to say you love God. Do you talk to God?
Owen: Yes
Sam: What do you say?
Owen: I ask for things, but he doesn't give them to me. I think there's a way you have to say it.
Sam: Yes, but it's also important what you ask for. You can't just ask for toys -- you need to ask for things that make you a better person. You say, "Dear God" and then end it by saying "Amen"
Owen: OK...dear God..and then Amen.
Sam: Right.
Owen: Dear God, I want to learn statistics. Amen.

Well he is just 5.

Good Clean Economical Fun

Well, maybe not so clean, but it is fun. I'm sure you remember making salt dough - it doesn't get more economical than this:

Salt Dough

2 cups flour
1 cup regular salt
Approximately 1 cup water

Mix the flour and salt together and add enough water so the dough is neither too wet or too dry - it should be smooth. Knead for 10 minutes. Garlic presses, cookie cutters, toothpicks, etc. are fun for shaping. If needed, use crumpled aluminum foil to prop up the masterpieces. When ready, you can let your creations air dry or you can bake them in a 200 degree oven for 1 - 4 hours.

I know, I know, not too wet or too dry, 1 - 4 hours...those kinds of directions drive me nuts, but the amount of water really depends on the humidity and the baking time on the size and thickness of your creation. When baking, take care to not get them too brown (they will crack) and if a bubble pops up you can use a pin to deflate it.

After baked, they can be painted with acrylic paint. If it is a real "keeper" you can apply a coat of finish. You can make your own economical version by mixing 1 tablespoon of water with 1 tablespoon of Elmer's glue. I happen to have a container of Minwax Polycrylic that I picked up at our grocery super-store. It is not so economical at $5.99 for 8 oz, but is really great for other projects too - it dries quickly, doesn't smell too bad and is easy to clean up.

So, there you have it - an inexpensive project that will keep the little guys busy (okay, I may have kept myself busy making a few) for quite some time. So go make some magnets, beads, ornaments, pins...

If You Give An AJ A Cake

I had a hard time deciding what kind of cake I would make for AJ's birthday. He loves strawberries, so they were a must. I went with a yellow cake, strawberry filling and Swiss Meringue buttercream. Now normally I want nothing to do with mice, but for some reason I had the little If You Give A Mouse a Cookie mouse in my head and this was the result:

Catching

I must admit, by AJ's birthday eve, I was getting pretty excited myself. After the little one went to sleep, Sam and I helped the big kids decorate the house. We blew up way too many balloons and hung streamers from everything the stood still. Their exuberance was catching. Even in the midst of the frenzy, I still tried to manage my expectations though - it was just his 1st birthday. I needn't have worried because this little guy loved every toy,

every balloon,

he flashed a big smile when he saw his cake,

and, the best part, he loved his crown.

I might have been a bit slow to catch the AJ birthday fever, but that smile is contagious.

24 Hours

The countdown has begun. 24 hours until the little one turns 1, which means 24 more hours of misery. They are at me - the others - they won't leave me alone. "What day is it?, How much longer?, Is it Friday?, Can you blow up this balloon for me?" Don't get me wrong, I am really glad they are excited and want to help, but man, oh man. Oh, and, no longer are they satisfied with the gifts I select. I had to drive all the way to Meijer so they could pick out their own gifts. They are very excited about this milestone. I think I can make it.


My strategy is to keep them very busy in the meantime...make your own wrapping paper...

Tennis Anyone?

This is definitely my kind of tennis - sour cream chocolate cake with Swiss meringue buttercream and fondant. An athlete I am not, but I do love making cakes. This giant racket was made for my cousin, the tennis star, who turned 18 the 4th of July. The biggest problem with this cake was finding something big enough to put it on - the cake was about 22 inches long. After trying every tray I own, I came across an unused shelf which did the trick.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

From San Francisco A La Carte

2 cups all-purpose flour, unsifted
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup butter
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Measure all ingredients into a larg bowl and beat for 1/2 minute at low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl constantly. Then beat for 3 minutes at highest speed. Pour into greased and floured cake pans: 2 9 inch pans or 3 8 inch pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

Sour Cream Chocolate Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In the top of a double broiler, melt butter and chocolate over barely simmering water. Remove from heat and cool. Add powdered sugar, then blend in sour cream and vanilla, beat until smooth.

The sour cream chocolate frosting is delicious, but the Swiss meringue buttercream is an nice alternative. It pipes nicely and holds up well. One of many recipes can be found at Martha Stewart.com. For this cake, I used 3 1/2 sticks of butter rather than the 4. I just couldn't bring myself to add those last 4 tablespoons. Somehow, psychologically, it made a difference - like I was being virtuous. See, who needs an actual tennis racket when you can save yourself calories like this? I think that may just be "15-love".

Babies, Babies & More Babies

As busy as the days seem, I have actually found a few spare moments to work on some projects. Because I am one of those people who can't seem to function without deadlines and chaos, I have spent some of that time knitting baby gifts. I hesitate to tell you how the remaining portion has been spent... lets just say that, as reluctant as I may have been, a certain book series bit me hard... Anyway, I love knitting for babies for several reasons, one of which is the patterns are so darned cute. The other reason is I can generally finish a project in one sitting, which is somewhat necessary anymore. So, when I haven't been turning pages, I have been knitting these:

For Jackson (his mom loves stars):

The stars are from Itty Bitty Hats by Susan Anderson (a great book), complete with French knots which was something new for me. The hat itself is Woolflower's Whirly Baby Hat Pattern, which is my all time favorite baby hat pattern.

For Jackson's brother Gibson:

I made this little guy into a rattle by tucking a rice filled plastic Easter egg inside his body. I taped the egg up with some clear duct tape just in case, I think it worked because he went though the wash without any signs of sprouting. The robot is a free pattern found at robotknitter.com.

For Rebekah:

The hat was made using the Ann Norling #10 Fruit Cap pattern - I opted for French knots rather than the traditional seeds. The strawberry on the onesie is made from felt and more French knots of course. Practice makes perfect right?

For Olive:

This is a modified version of the Olive You hat in the Itty Bitty Hat book - I just couldn't resist.

So there you have it and since I have another minute, it is back to my pages!