who you callin' cream puff?

the mother of all cream puffs at dianna's deli and restaurant in Sandusky, OH.

Where Has the Summer Gone?

This is it... the last week of summer.

The boys go back to school on the 31st.

I feel so much pressure! Can the last week be memorable?

Does it need to be?

We had more cousins visiting this month.Poor Lil'onE. Look at what she is surrounded by! The Mister's 2nd sister's 3 boys and our two... poor thing. But in fairness, I did promise to take this picture if they gave us one 'nice' one. We all know the truth in this picture!

The Mister is a Virginia Tech alumnus. Of course Lil'onE is adorned appropriately!
Doesn't he look proud?

And then the 4th month was gone...
4 months old. And adorable in watermelons.
I want to be a baby. Everyone thinks her fleshy thighs are cute.

Oh, and about the llama. Filthy. Filthy. And I think I am allergic. It makes my eyes itch and my nose itch and sneezy and...
The Mister says I just need to wash it more. Perhaps. The problem is getting from one side of that to the other. Not really a journey I am looking to make.
It is truly unfortunate, too. The fiber is a beautiful silver and charcoal grey. It would blend beautifully with my fleece.

eeeewwww

I am washing the llama so that I can blend it with some of my wool. It is so filthy. I mean. I am seriously wondering what color it is, because the water is so brown and thick! I thought it was chocolate brown. Now I am not going to be surprised if it is almond colored!
I put it in for a second soapy bath, I cannot believe that the first one really got all the dirt out. I will let you know how it ends up.

I Can't Believe That I Forgot to Tell YOU!

I finished carding my fleece yesterday!!!!!! YES you heard right. Only one year later. I would have taken a picture but the baskets are empty! Now just to spin. Oh, and I want to blend some with the llama in the basement. Not a live animal, silly, just its shearing. Have I mentioned the llama? The school secretary's sister in Florida raises a llama and happily sent me its spring haircut. um, last spring. How cool is that? Yeah, I know.

Make It Special

I like Texas Sheet Cake. I mean, it is chocolate cake with chocolate icing. What's not to like. I have seen a couple recipes around. My MIL makes a version, she isn't always a reliable recipe giver, though. I have made Texas Sheet Cake twice now. This time, I believe I have found the secret.

Ready?

Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa.

Seriously.

Yum.

Here's the recipe.

1c butter (unsalted, land o lakes is worth the extra buck)

1 c water

4 tbs. Special Dark Cocoa

2 c sugar

2 c flour

1/2 t salt

1t baking soda

1 t vanilla

1 t cinnamon

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 c sour cream (breakstone reduced fat)

In a pot large enough to hold all the ingredients, bring to a boil the butter, water and cocoa. Remove from heat, stir in sugar, flour, salt, baking soda, vanilla and cinnamon. Beat in eggs and sour cream.

Pour batter into a greased 13x9 glass pan. Bake at 375 degrees fro 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. As soon as you remove the cake from the oven, spread with frosting.

Frosting

1/2 cup butter

4 tbs Special Dark Cocoa

1/3 c milk

4 cups powdered sugar

1 t vanilla

Melt butter and stir in cocoa, stir in milk. Remove from heat. Slowly stir in powder sugar and vanilla. Beat well. Spread hot icing over hot cake.

Try to control yourself until it cools a little. It will burn your tongue. Just sayin'. hee-hee.

I made this cake the other day. Grandma Lime Cake

The frosting didn't turn out right, I don't think. It was looking good until I added the lime juice. But who cares? It tasted awesome! I like lime. mmm-hmm.

Let's see, What Else?

My friend Mrs. H. has started writing a blog. It is a very good blog. Mrs. H. is a very interesting person, so I am not surprised. And she does indeed have good manners and rather polite children. Best part? She is my friend. Go look at her blog and tell her that I sent you. It might keep her my friend after hollywood buys the movie rights.

RoboWorld at the Carnegie Science Center is cool. The kids really liked it. Sam, the big cousin, beat the robot at air hockey. Grandma lost to the robot. She wasn't sad, though, she didn't lose as bad as she would have expected. lol.

Oh, look! Lil'onE is 3 1/2 months old!

Just so you don't think I only take pictures of my baby... INBA. He's 7 1/2.

But I have been taking more pictures of the baby. This one is inspired by a picture of my Nephew Aaron, who is a month younger than Lil'onE. Of course, his was a professional picture, Lil'onE is stuck with the Mommy version.