Nerf Birthday

This was my view, seconds before getting hit with 24 pieces of Nerf ammunition at Gus' birthday sleepover party last night.

Oh... and just FYI, even Nerf can leave a good welt if fired at the right trajectory.

Birthday brainstorming.

Gus' birthday is coming up, and I'm having a tough time deciding what to do for his cake. For nine years, I've had the same dilemma: How do you make a birthday cake for a boy that won't eat cake? As weird as it sounds, he was five years old before we could even coax him to take a bite of a cupcake. (He's still never eaten a french fry.) I could go on and on about his complex food disorder, but I won't. Instead I'll share with you the last 8 years of birthday "cakes." Each year, I try to pick one food item that Gus truly LOVES, and make it extra special.

1st Birthday - Chocolate pudding in a custom-labeled baby food jar

2nd Birthday - Pink Pediasure in a custom-labeled can

3rd Birthday - Tootsie Roll & Tootsie Pop cake

4th Birthday - Purple M&M cake & custom M&M bags

5th Birthday - Swiss cake rolls in a Mickey Mouse shape

6th Birthday - Double-decker chocolate chip cupcakes
7th Birthday - Krispy Kreme doughnut cake

8th Birthday - Twix & Hershey's Kisses rocketship

Beacycle

Watch out Winterberry Street, Bea Denneler's hittin' the road and she's not stoppin' for squirrels.

On her red, girly-camoflauged, cousin-hand-me-down, big-brother-hand-me-down bicycle, Bea has taken off and we're finding it hard to keep up with her on foot. She's not quite ready for the Tour de France, but I have a feeling she's going to want those training wheels off before mom and dad are mentally prepared to remove them. (She nearly caught up with the ice cream truck tonight!)

*Actual Size

A few months ago, my friend, Sarah, had a bouncing baby boy and she asked me to help her with his birth announcements. The first thing that popped into my head was his size: 9lbs, 1 ounce and 22 inches LONG! (That's no baby, that's practically a toddler.)

So, what better way to show off this big ol' beautiful boy, than to present him actual size? Sarah got Carter's photo taken - all stretched out, legs crossed in a tastefully newborn nude pose, and with the most adorable self-cuddling gesture. Then we had the announcements printed on a big, 18 x 24-inch, black and white copier and folded them to fit inside clear plastic envelopes. Sarah then attached color mailing labels and baby statistics labels to the outside & inside of the folded posters.

Cute, cost-effective and completely engaging. (Just like Carter. OK, well, maybe not that cost-effective part....)

Congrats Sarah & Brently. And welcome to this big, beautiful world, Carter Barr Frick! You'll fit right in.

Brookies

One of my favorite blogs is Bakerella.com. She bakes & photographs the coolest cake pops & desserts, and I'm inspired with every post.

A few weeks ago, she baked something that sounded so good, I just had to try it myself this morning: a chocolate chip cookie with a baked brownie inside. Bakerella jokingly called them "Brookies" but their official name is Chocolate Chip Brownie Pillows. I call them genius - an ooey-gooey, chocolatey brownie, lovingly baked inside an equally ooey-gooey, chocolatey, collosal-sized cookie!!!! Come to mama.

They're huge. Six, maybe 8-inches wide. I'm thinking, if you put a scoop of ice cream between two of these suckers, you'd have one hell of an indulgent dessert. (Or a diabetic coma on your hands.)

Who says work & play don't mix?

Eric's working on a little rock path in the backyard this week, and Miss Bea decided to join in on the fun. A shovel, a bucket and a pile of rocks in the back of dad's truck can be quite entertaining, believe it or not.

Just add water.

What's our recipe for a fun 4th of July weekend?

2 days of boating & tubing at the Liudahl Family lake house

1 night of really loud (& smoky) fireworks

1 bag of collosal-sized marshmallows for roasting

Gather. Laugh. And repeat as necessary.