Ben's Birthday Bash!

My baby is turning 1!!!! It's hard, and crazy, to believe I've been a mom of the most adorable boy for a year!! 

To those who don't know the events surrounding Ben's early birth, this picture pretty much sums it up! 

Back at the end of 2012, when we found out I was expecting Ben, Jon started looking for a job so I could stay home with the baby. He found an associate pastor position in Kenai, Alaska. We went up to visit and candidate at the church during my spring break from school. We flew in Saturday, Jon preached Sunday, my water broke Monday, and Ben was born Tuesday, April 16! (One month before his due date!) Praise God, Ben was healthy and strong! He weighed 4 lbs 8 oz. 

We flew back to Colorado when Ben was 9 days old. 

Two months later, we moved to Alaska. The church we candidated at, Calvary Baptist Church, became family the week Ben was born. So many brothers and sisters in Christ came around us, supporting us. When Ben was born, I had Nothing for him! But everyone provided us with clothes, diapers, blankets, everything we needed for Ben! We were even blessed to have a couple from the church, Nathan & Monica, fly down to CO and drive our Uhaul up. (They are our now some of our best friends, our adopted family!) 

Being the first year of Ben's life, he's already had so many adventures! One month living in CO and meeting all my wonderful students, trips to California to see relatives, and living in Alaska! 

Since we are in California for two weeks, we decided to celebrate Ben's birthday early (cause he likes early!) and because we want to celebrate it with family. I got to throw a Mustache Bash for my Little Man! 

Thank you to Mark & Jera for preparing burgers for lunch! We also had chips & dip, baked beans, and a yummy shrimp/spaghetti salad. 

It was fun eating lunch with family and friends and hanging out. Then we sang Happy Birthday to Ben and gave him his birthday cake! 

He loved stuffing his face with his chocolate Nutella mustache cake! For the frosting, I wanted something that wasn't too sweet, since this would be Ben's first BIG sugar splurge. I mixed cool whip and Nutella and placed blue sprinkles along the side for some color. 

It was so funny when he tried to eat it because he just stuck his face in it and took bites! He got frosting ALL over his face! But he absolutely LOVED it! 

After Ben gobbled down his cake, my mom washed him clean and changed his outfit while I opened up the dessert table. 

I placed pictures of Ben from his first year, one for every month, along the picture frame. It was neat seeing how he's grown! 

For the dessert table, I bought blueberry chocolate covered pretzels and blueberry jelly beans, made sugar cookies with chocolate mustaches, and chocolate Nutella mini cakes. (There's no such thing as too much chocolate!)

And of course, we had chocolate Nutella cupcakes topped with chocolate mustaches. 

After dessert, the kids (and some adults) played Pin the Mustache on Ben! 

The kids loved it so much, they played several times! I think, for some of them, their favorite part was getting spin around! 

Ben had fun with his presents, especially the big yellow ball from the Shippy's that all the kids loved! Ben also received lots of new clothes, superhero plastic people, a rocking horse, toy cars, and lots of other toys! 

Before everyone left, we took some family pictures! I want to print out and frame these pictures as late birthday gifts for My mom, Jon's mom, and Jon's grandma (all March bdays!). 

And, finally, a few pictures from his birthday photo shoot! Happy Birthday Benny boy!!

...and a few cute pictures I just wanted to share, including a family photo! 

Birthday Parties!

It's my mom's and mother-in-law's birthdays this week so we flew down to California to celebrate with them and give them what they really want...snuggle time with Ben! 

Everyone, not just the grandmas, enjoy playing with Benny boy! He is going to be so spoiled by the time we leave! I blame them entirely! Lol! 

For my mom's birthday, we went out to eat at her favorite restaurant, a Thai food place called Siam Garden! It was delicious!!

Then we went back home for dessert!

I made a chocolate cake with strawberry and banana filling. The frosting was mixed cool whip and Nutella! I decorated the top with white melting chocolate. 

The 2nd dessert was my version of Strawberry Shortcake, except I used strawberry cake mix instead of Angel Food cake (which I regret, but I didn't want to go to the store for a box of cake mix so I used what we had at the house. I know, I'm lazy.) I also used some of the extra chocolate hearts leftover from the cake. 

To make the best Strawberry Shortcake:

1. Make Angel Food Cake cupcakes!

2. Chop fresh strawberries and mix with cool whip/whip cream in a bowl. 

3. Layer strawberry/whip cream mixture, cupcake, a swirl of whip cream, and a heart-shaped strawberry in a clear cup. 4. Yummy! 

After dessert, my mom opened her presents and Ben tried to help! 

It was a great evening! Happy Birthday Mom! 

On Saturday we celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday! For lunch we had pizza at my in-laws favorite place, then we went to the beach and had a relaxing time! 

Ben did better than I expected with the sand and loved walking on the beach (as long as the water wasn't higher than his itty-bitty ankles)!

 We collected shells and fed the sea gulls then had a delicious but, oh so unhealthy, fish 'n chips dinner! Before we left, grandpa bought 2 Shark Attack slices. It's a delicious 7-layer chocolate cake. It's one of Jon's and Jera's favorite desserts. (Someday I'll get the recipe right and share it!)

Have a great day!!! And enjoy the sun and outdoors (if you live somewhere that you can)!

Christine's Quilt

I finished my first quilt! 

I made this quilt as a gift for my awesome sister Christine! She picked the colors: orange and blue, and a pattern she liked: chevron. Well, it started out chevron but adventures have a way of finding me and the quilt took on a new design! 

I found the pattern for a chevron quilt online here: http://www.unitednotions.com/fp_bella-solids-zz.pdf. I had started the quilt using the pattern to make my zig-zags horizontal, but then...I lost my printed out copy. Not thinking, I just used the instructions for a vertical quilt. Not The Same!! Good thing was I had almost half and half, so instead of taking out half of my small squares, I went with it! And Christine loves it! 

 After working on it for 5 months (on and off, only at CBC's Ladies Sewing Group), it is finally finished and delivered! (Christine visited me in Alaska and picked it up herself!) 

All of this to say: Never Give Up (Never Surrender!!! My geek side is showing through). Embrace the adventures along the way and enjoy life. Things don't always turn out the way you planned but you'll have a one-of-a-kind quilt!

Here are some more pictures! 

Front and back view. 

Fabric on back. 

Instead of quilting over the top, we tied it with embroidery thread. (Christine actually did this part when she visited me.)

I'm excited to show off the quilt I'm working on now...but that will have to wait because it's a gift. Oh, and it's not done...but it WILL take LESS than 5 months! I'm actually almost halfway done in just 2 weeks! 

Love you, Chrsitine! 

Blueberry Scones!

Living in Alaska, we don't have a lot of fresh fruit and what we do get is super expensive and doesn't taste like it did in California. So we use frozen fruits quite frequently. I went through a smoothie a day faze but it's too cold for that right now. My most recent craze is for Blueberry Scones! 

Everyone who has tasted these scones, LOVE them! Because of the big, juicy blueberries, these scones aren't dry. They are also a great breakfast food and, I like to think, healthy! (I believe in eating yummy food but moderation is key!)

Blueberry Scones

3/4 c Heavy Cream

1 Egg

2 c Flour

1/4 c Sugar

2 ts Baking Powder

1/2 ts Salt

6 TB Cold Butter (cut into 6 pieces)

1 c Frozen Blueberries 

1. Whisk wet ingredients in a large bowl. 

2. Mix dry ingredients and butter in a food processor until well blended. 

3. Add dry ingredients to bowl of wet ingredients and fold in, along with the blueberries!

4. Place on a cookie sheet, divide in half equally, and press into shape. 

5. Cut into 8 pieces, like a pizza, and separate

   *OR*

Wrap in plastic wrap and Freeze! (Great way to store it, save it for breakfast, gift, etc. I like freezing it because it cuts better.)

6. Bake 15-17 min at 400' and enjoy!! You can also sprinkle with sugar if you want sweeter scones. 

Happy Baking!! 😄

Chocolate Nutella Cupcakes & Mini Cakes

Nutella is the most delicious food ever created! I love this stuff! It pairs well with everything: dipping strawberries, apples or bananas, on pancakes or crepes (especially good with raspberry jam!), mixing in with chocolate cake, cupcakes and cake pops, etc. 

For the Super Bowl, I made mini cakes in the shape of footballs. If they were on a stick, they'd be cake pops. (Long story short, I didn't have styrofoam to place the cake pops and I didn't want to put them on sticks, therefore "mini cakes!")

I began by baking Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake; you can find the recipe on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa box. 

I've included a copy here for you too! 

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

2 c Sugar

1 3/4 c all-purpose Flour

3/4 c Hershey's Cocoa

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Salt

2 Eggs

1 c Milk

1/2 c Vegetable Oil

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 c Boiling Water

1. Heat oven to 350'F. Grease and flour two 9-in round baking pans. 

2. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour into pans. 

3. Bake 30-35 min or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 min. 

To make mini cakes: 

1. Remove cake from pans into a large mixing bowl and mix until it's all crumbles. 

2. Add 3/4-1 c of Nutella and blend thoroughly. 

3. Using your hands or a cookie cutter, create your desired shape and freeze for 1/2-1 hr. Must be firm enough so the it doesn't crumble in your hand. (Since I live in Alaska, during the winter I can just set it outside!)

4. Dip in your choice of melting chocolate. I hold the mini cake on a fork and dump (not drizzle!) chocolate over it. Touch up the sides gently and let cool/harden. 

To make cupcakes: 

1. Preheat oven to 350'. Bake at 325' for 25-30 min in muffin pans with liners. 

2. Cool completely, then scoop out center with cupcake corer and fill with Nutella. 

3. Frost with your favorite frosting! (Hint: mix some Nutella into your frosting for extra yumminess!)

What are some foods & desserts you pair with Nutella? 

Valentine's Day Dinner

I'm going to kick off my blog with the most exciting party I've planned so far: Valentines Day Dinner at CBC! 

It was so much fun to plan! I made these special invitations out of scrapbook paper and vellum. Since this was an open event to everyone in church, we just announced it in the bulletin and guests RSVPed with me. Then, I have the invites to those people. That way I only had to make 20-25 instead of 80! 

  

I wanted the dining experience to be romantic, like at a fancy restaurant, so the youth group boys hung Christmas lights and tulle while the youth group girls set the tables. We also had votive candles on the tables (which I forgot to light til after the appetizer, oops!)

 

The tables were set with grey chevron tablecloths (made by my friend Sharon) and with black cloth runners going down the width of the table (instead of length). We used white and silver plastic plates, silver plastic utensils, and clear plastic wine glasses (all from WalMart, except cups). Everything worked out nicely except some of the cups had leaks and needed to be replaced. 

Each place setting had a menu and schedule of events under the pink napkin. 

The appetizers were crescent rolls with butter and salad topped with a heart tomato. (I cut 2 tomatoes and placed a toothpick to hold them in the shape of a heart.) Each guest had their choice of salad dressing: Olive Garden Italian, creamy ranch, or sweet onion vinaigrette.

 The entree portion was chicken Parmesan on garden pasta and topped with two sprigs of asparagus. We also placed two heart shaped pepperoni pieces on each chicken breast (thanks Jessie for cutting those out)...but the ovens were acting up and it took longer to bake the chicken. We served the entree portion about 20-30 min late but no one complained because, when we finally served it, it was perfectly tender and juicy! Thanks to my husband Jon for checking the meat or I might have served everyone raw chicken! Ew! 

Now we get to my favorite part: DESSERT!!

We had so many desserts (although they all weren't set up when we took this picture). 

There were chocolate Nutella cupcakes with a pink heart chocolate decoration, red velvet cake pops, mini chocolate cakes dipped in pink chocolate and drizzled with white, chocolate French macarons, fresh strawberries and raspberries, and (everyone's favorite) strawberry shortcake cupcakes (made with angel food cake, cool whip and fresh strawberries). We also had gluten-free chocolate cupcakes (thanks to Sarah & her family for making those!). 

We had some dapper boys from the youth group help with serving! 

After all the food and desserts, everyone enjoyed each other's company while listening to a Frank Sinatra station on Pandora. We also had a table to write Love Notes to your darling, a Photo Booth with fun props (thanks to my friend Angela for providing the camera and taking pictures!), a display of a wedding photo from each guest, and everyone's favorite: a Kissing  Room for the couples!

Then we played several games! 

Heart-A-Stack: Guests had to stack 10 conversation heart candies using chopsticks. Challenge Round: Couples had to work together to stack 5 candies, using only one chopstick each. 

Kisses: The correct way to eat a Hershey Kiss is sharing half with your love, not using your hands! 

Mix N Match: We tested the husbands power of observation by placing our rings on the table and having them guess which belonged to their wife. (You could also play this with shoes or other jewelry.) 

Tied the Knot: A couple who volunteers is handcuffed together and must tie a ribbon to make a bow only using their handcuffed hands. 

We also offered free babysitting in the nursery. The kids ate Mac n cheese and chocolate chip cookies, made valentines gifts (per packaged craft from WalMart), and watched Homeward Bound. They loved it!

And that was our Valentines Day Dinner party! Thank you to everyone who helped serve, cook, babysit and clean up! A BIG shout out to our awesome youth group who helped me throughout the week and on V Day!