Cake Class #3 - Flowers

Last night's class was devoted to making flowers. Using several different tips we learned how to create: leaves, star flowers, swirled flowers, rosettes, a pompom flower and a shaggy mum. I also learned how to pipe a shell border.

My blank canvases for Class #3 were yellow cupcakes:



Some of my finished products:



The pompom flower:




I couldn't resist turning my "shaggy mum" into a cookie monster for Jay.

Fastnachts?

I love living in Virginia (most of the time). I love being near Washington DC and all of its history. I love that Spring arrives so early each year. I love our hot summers and long autumns. I love having our pick of so many great restaurants in Alexandria. But, every once in a while I miss certain aspects of other places I have lived. I miss being near the beaches of Cape Cod, MA. I miss Margherita's Pizza Shop and Capriotti's Sandwich Shop in Newark, DE. And every year at this time (Shrove Tuesday), I miss my childhood home in Berks County, Pennsylvania. I miss walking into my mother's kitchen and being greeted by a white bag full of fastnachts and a jar of Turkey Table Syrup. Fastnachts were a special treat we had growing up. The idea being that you would enjoy them the day before Ash Wednesday, since that would be a day of fasting. Their story is interesting. They were born out of a need to rid your pantry of lard, sugar, flour and eggs (items typically restricted during Lent). We did not follow that rule completely, but we always had fastnachts on Shrove Tuesday.

Here in Alexandria, we have so many ethnic cuisines available to us. Surely, there must be a German bakery that would make fastnachts, right? There might be, but I have not found it yet. So, I did some more research this year and found that there is a large German population in Frederick, MD and that I might find fastnachts there. But, Frederick, MD is at least an hour and a half drive from my home. Next clue I was able to dig up was that there is a Polish version of my beloved fastnacht called the paczki. And these little babies are sold in most grocery stores in Virginia.

This turned out to be true as I was able to pick up a box of paczki at my local Giant yesterday.



I kept my expectations low, since nothing could compare to a fastnacht of my childhood memory. And well, these are not nearly as tasty. They were very dry, not to mention they are not made of a potato dough like fastnachts. These were powdered and filled with custard. So, I was disappointed by the doughnut itself but thrilled to at least be making some connection with my childhood on this cold February morning.

Class #2 - update

Class 2 was just mastering frosting technique. This is something I am glad to learn...possibly even more so than how to make a pretty flower to put on a cake. I will need to keep practicing but, I have learned some good tips. But, seriously...how many cakes can we eat, just so I can master frosting a cake? My dear husband doesn't even really like cake and my eldest son seems to only eat the frosting. So, I guess the grunt work will fall to my youngest and me. Oh, well!

Here's the finished product from class. I was going to decorate it yesterday but, did not feel like cleaning up the mess in the kitchen that would have made.






Next lesson will be flowers. We'll practice those techniques on cupcakes. So, I will need to make some cupcakes this weekend. Life is good.

Prep for Class #2

Tonight's class will be focused on frosting/ decorating a cake. (Guess that's pretty obvious, since it is a cake decorating class.) I've made my chocolate cake and buttercream frosting for class. I'm sure you will be eager to check back here tomorrow for the finished product. So, hopefully I will remember to take a picture of it this time!

My Little Apprentice

AP has a Valentine's Day Party at preschool tomorrow, complete with a valentine exchange. His teacher told me on Friday that they have been working on decorating their individual bags for collecting valentines. It made me smile to remember doing the same thing when I was in kindergarten.

I suggested picking out valentines at the store but, he really wanted to make his. So, I taught him how to stencil today. I'm so glad we made these.

Check out my little apprentice:

New skill....

Last night, I attended my first of four cake decorating classes. This was a gift from my dear husband for my birthday. I've often considered taking the classes offered at our local craft store to improve my decorating/icing skills. So, I was thrilled to be gifted this opportunity. Not to mention, how very sweet it is of my dear husband, to gift me some time to myself. He's so good to me.

I've been proud of the cakes I've made for the boys' birthdays but, clearly I could use some improvement and let's be honest some instruction.

I'll try to keep an update on my progress here. These are the cookies I made yesterday to use as my "blank canvas" for class one.



I learned two tips already that will drastically improve my cakes. So, in my opinion, this class has already paid for itself. And the main part of our lesson last night, was learning how to make stars, using the number 18 tip. Being the scatterbrain that I am, however, I forgot to take pictures of my finished product. Here is the best I can offer, which is Jay's half eaten cookie:



I'll try to post some more pictures as I practice. And I will certainly update here after each class.

What fun!

It doesn't take much...

...which is good because, we did not get much! The boys reveled in our first "snowfall" of 2012. It was only a dusting but, they sure made the most of it by playing outside yesterday evening while it fell and again this morning just after breakfast.

Jay came to us this morning in a panic. "No more (s)now outside." He and Andrew had gone to bed last night with high hopes that it would continue to snow during the night so that they might wake up to a true winter wonderland. Instead, they woke to find most of yesterday's snow had already melted. Still, they had fun playing in it this morning.


Happy boy


Two happy boys


Remnant of a snow angel made the day before


Snowball maker


Used his shovel to build a snow castle


Snow castle (walls for protection, the sticks in the front are trumpets, and the rest is decoration)


Adding the castle gate...

Letters to Santa

This was the first year the boys sent letters to Santa Clause. I just had to share them because they were so sweet.



Dear Santa, I love you. I was a good boy. Please come see our Christmas tree. Please can you bring me a present? Thank you. Merry Christmas! Love, Jay



Dear Santa, I have been a good boy lately. This is the boy that has been good, Andrew. This is my Christmas wish list. Thank you. I will leave you a yummy snack on the table by the brown couch. Hope you like it. Merry Christmas! Love, Andrew




We dropped them off at Santa's Post Office at Macy's. What fun!

Happy Halloween!

Spooooooky......

Happy 5th Birthday, Andrew!

Dear Andrew,

Happy Birthday! Today you are 5 years old! And I swear it seems like you turned into a 5-year-old overnight except, it wasn’t last night. It was the day Jay turned 3. It was a Sunday morning, and you walked your brother up to the front of our church for the children’s message. This was something you never wanted to do on your own. But, now that Jay was 3 and was going to start going to the Sunday school portion of Sunday service, you assumed the role of big brother and decided to show Jay what to do. It’s as if Jay turning 3, was a huge milestone for you.

October 2010

January 2011

The next day you started pre-school. And you are doing awesome! All of a sudden you have this life outside of the one you and I have shared for the past 5 years. Sure it’s just three mornings a week but it’s a big step toward your independence. Jay and I love to hear all about your morning when we pick you up. Jay always asks you what you had for snack. You seem to revel in this attention from Jay and me. Add in your toothless grin and well, you truly look the part of a 5-year-old!

September 2011

Yes, you lost two teeth, one in August and one in September. You love to show off your toothless grin. And you were very excited for your first visit from the tooth fairy. As with most things, you were full of questions about what would happen. The funniest was asking if the tooth fairy would be able to open the little bag that your tooth was in. You were really concerned that it would be too big for her little fairy hands and that she wouldn't be able to manage it. Turns out she got it open and was able to leave some shiny quarters for you. Oh, how excited you were about this!

September 2011

This past year also saw a huge spurt in your appetite and growth, mostly over the summer months. You started to seem like a teenage boy sitting at the lunch table unable to be sated. You outgrew just about every item of clothing and all of your shoes!

August 2011

This summer also saw you improving your water skills. By mid-summer you gained free reign over the 3-4 foot area. Learning how to doggy-paddle and even swim under water to make progress when it got deeper. You would also jump off the wall and plunge under all by yourself. I think your favorite accomplishment was learning how to dive down to the bottom to pick something up in the 3 foot area. And I might add that you taught yourself all of this. You had a little help from me but, most of it you learned by practicing or watching older kids at the pool. It was really neat to watch you improve and to see how proud you were of yourself.

Your hand-eye coordination is really improving as well. You’ve become quite good at baseball in the front yard. And I couldn’t have been happier when you asked me if we could play basketball at the pool. Well, actually, I was happier still when you sank 8 out of 10 shots! To see you strut was a new experience for me. And I loved that first chance to teach you basketball. Oh, how I would love to teach you more.

May 2011

Not only has your physical development seen a big jump this year but, your mental development as well. Just recently, I’ve noticed that you: can add small numbers without counting on your fingers, pick out words on signs and in books, have great story comprehension, draw awesome pictures and are getting really close to writing your name. As great as all of these new skills are, Daddy and I have a favorite. It’s listening to you read to Jay. We like when you read to us too but, it’s so cute to watch Jay intently follow along as you weave an exciting story for him.

August 2011

August 2011

This is an exciting time for our family. We just bought a house and will be moving in just a few days. I have been very proud of how well you have been handling this transition. You have been very helpful getting your things packed. I had been so concerned you would take some time to adjust to pre-school and then have to handle moving to a new home. Instead, you have totally amazed me by not only taking it all in stride but, truly flourishing.

I am going to enjoy this last year together before you start kindergarten next September. I am so excited for all that is in store for us as we venture into those school-age years but for now, I want to soak up every bit of these remaining pre-school days.

I love you, AP. Happy Birthday!

Love,
Mommy

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jay!

Dear Jay,

Happy 3rd Birthday! You continue to grow into a very sweet boy. That's not to say that you haven't truly gotten in touch with your stubborn side, which you certainly did this past year. Your willfulness, however, is perfectly within the normal range for a 2-3 year old. And I think it is a direct result of your desire to do more and more things "all by yourself". You have started dressing yourself, helping yourself to snacks in the kitchen, helping me set the dinner table and even going to the potty all by yourself. Daddy and I have always admired your independence. You continue to prove this is one of your strongest personality traits.


October 2010

Going hand in hand with your independent streak is your sense of adventure. You are fearless in so many ways. Just last week you were jumping along a set of raised cement circles at our park. The space between these circles would seem to be too wide for you to jump across. Yet, you bounded along them as if it were no big deal. You are always game to try something new. I admire that about you a great deal. And yet, I also imagine you will cause me to have heart failure a great many times over the course of your childhood because you are so very daring! I will have to sit back and enjoy your adventures along with you, for I would hate to ever be responsible for curbing your great sense of adventure.


January 2011

This year saw you successfully master potty-training. You've also learned how to spell your name. And you are a total fish in the water. You loved swimming/wading at the pool and beach this summer. By the end of summer, you were jumping off the wall into the 2ft pool without any assistance from me.


June 2011


August 2011

You continue to be Andrew's shadow and mimic. Andrew has taught you to love putting on puppet shows. You love to tell a good knock-knock joke taking great pleasure in making others laugh. Your physical prowess combined with your sense of humor make us forget sometimes that you are two years younger than Andrew. I often joke to others, "don't tell Jay he is two years younger because he does not seem to know that he is." You keep pace with Andrew like it's no big deal.


March 2011

This coming year is going to be very special for you and me. Andrew is starting pre-school tomorrow which means you and I are going to have a chance to spend some quality one-on-one time together. I am really looking forward to being able to focus on just you for those few hours each week that Andrew is in school. You hardly seem like my little baby at all anymore and I know that is going to continue to fade over the course of this coming year. I look forward to soaking up every little bit that remains while at the same time reveling in the big boy you are becoming. I am so excited for the adventures which lie ahead of you.



I love you, Jay. Happy, happy birthday!

Love,
Mommy

First Lost Tooth

Andrew has been so looking forward to losing teeth since he's heard older kids talk about it. He's had two loose ones in the bottom front for a couple days.



Today, very nonchalantly, he popped out the more loose of the two. I imagine the second can't be far behind.



He's excited about getting a visit from the tooth fairy tonight. I wonder what her going rate is these days. ???