Dump Cake Recipe

This is a super easy cake/cobbler recipe that is great to make with your children.  I'm not sure if the best part about this recipe is the fact that my 4 year old can make it, or the fact that there are no dishes to clean up afterward.  There is no mixing and stirring in bowls.  Just dumping.  It's as simple as this...

Put the following ingrediants in a 9 x 13 inch pan in layers in this order:

1 large can crushed pineapple
1 can cherry pie filling
1 box yellow cake mix
4 - 6 ouces chopped pecans
2 sticks of melted butter

Bake at 300 degrees for about an hour.

I am not a big fan at all of pineapples or cherries and would not have made this recipe had I not tried it first at a party (hello, there's no chocolate in it...how good could it be, right?!?).  However, now I am convinced that with a box of yellow cake mix and two sticks of butter in a recipe, you could probably add a can of sardines into the mix and it would taste just fine. 

Enjoy!

Happy 1st Birthday, Scout and Sawyer

Dear Scout and Sawyer,

Today you turned one year old.  It's hard to believe that one year (and a day) ago, you were just two little mutants in my belly.  Today, you are the sweet cuddler that loves to bang on drums and the fiesty princess who loves people and loves to laugh.  

There are a few memories from this past year that I will always remember (or at least until I get Alzheimer's).  I will never forget our first night feeding when I brought you home from the hospital.  It took me 2.5 hours to tandem nurse you (I got one latched on, the other would fall off), pump, supplement feed you, clean the bottles, change your diapers, clean and re-gauze a circumcision, wipe your umbilical cords with alcohol, and rock you to sleep.  I looked at the clock and had 30 minutes until I was supposed to do that all over again.  


You two are the joy of my heart and the apple of my eye.  

 

Joy is...Scout wagging her tongue back and forth when she's happy.
Joy is...Sawyer scrunching up his nose when he's excited or determined.
Joy is...nursing two babies...at the same time.
Joy is...having three children fight over the privilege of sitting on mommy's lap.
Joy is...watching Scout pull up on the sofa, then watching Sawyer pull up on Scout.
Joy is...bathing two babies in each side of the kitchen sink.
Joy is...rocking two babies before bedtime when they each have their head on my shoulder and their thumbs in their mouths.
Joy is...looking into Scout's big blue eyes.
Joy is...grabbing a handful of Sawyer's thighs.
Joy is...watching your older brother Merrick make crazy faces to make you laugh.
Joy is...how any time any thing goes wrong, Scout immediately turns and looks for my face.
Joy is...seeing Scout's legs go crazy when she sees her Daddy walk through the door.  Hearing her say, "Dada...Dada."
Joy is...how excited you both get when I lay down on the floor.  Like the world's greatest theme park just opened it's doors. 
Joy is...how each twin has to be in my arms the minute he/she realizes I'm holding his/her twin. 

I love you, Scout.  I love you, Sawyer.  I am so grateful that we all made it through this year...alive.  I look forward to more precious moments watching you grow as individuals and as friends.  I pray for you and with you every day that you will be happy, healthy, have great relationships (with each other, with your brother, and others), be compassionate, wise, financially secure, intelligent, and that you'll grow up to be strong Christians and marry strong Christians.  That's not too much for a mommy to ask for, is it?!?

Happy 1st Birthday, my children.

Love,
Mommy 

Merrick's Birthday Crown

Here's a pic of Merrick's birthday crown for the twins' music themed 1st birthday party.  Since he's my little drummer boy, I appliqued a drum silhouette on each side.  His hat coordinates with the twins' crowns here and here.

Rock on!

Bubble Muscles

Thank you, Lord, for whoever invented the bubble bath.  With just a few squirts of soap and a little water, I can easily get an hour worth of fun for my (almost) 4 year old AND some hilarious pics.

Welcome to the gun show, baby!

Her Crowning Glory

Scoutie Girl's crown is finished!  Here are a few pics of the twins wearing their crowns today.  Amazingly, they both kept them on for quite a while.  Sure, I may have pinned their arms to their side while placing the crown on their heads.  All the same, the crowns stayed on!

I'm the king of the world!  Big change from the last time he put this crown on...

In front of their newborn pics...hard to believe it's a year later...

The best compliment ever was when their big brother asked me to make him a crown as well.  Originally, I was planning on making him his own red/black/white crown for his race car birthday party (one week after the twins' party).  Now, I think I might actually make him a turquoise one to wear to the twins' party as well.  

For the list of tutorials on how to make this crown, see my post here.  They are super simple to make!

*Twins Rock* 1st Birthday Invitation

Just wanted to share the final version of the twins' first birthday invite.  It's funny.  Only our immediate family is invited so I didn't really need to send out invites.  I just can't help but make them!


Since the twins are having a rock-n-roll birthday theme, I wanted their invitation to be like a rock concert poster.  I used Gimp (free ware similar to Photoshop) to make them.  I plan on making envelopes out of pages from an old Rolling Stone magazine.  


Rock on.
                                  

1st Birthday Party Crown Tutorials

My little twinnies, Sawyer and Scout, turn one year old in just over two weeks.  While scouring the internet to find some simple party decorating ideas, I came across some cool tutorials for birthday crowns.  Originally, I was going to make a birthday hat (the notorious cone of shame), but figured this would annoy my one year olds a little less than a piece of elastic under their chin.  Plus, it's a little more manly for my little stud Sawyer.

The twins are having a very small, family only "Twins Rock" birthday party.  I embellished the sides of the crown with little guitars to go along with the theme.  The birthday banner under the crown is another little project I'm working on.  More to come on that soon...

See how much he just looooooooves the crown?

For tutorials on how to make birthday crowns like this, check out these tutorials:

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/02/24/felt-birthday-crown/
http://sewshesews.wordpress.com/2009/02/13/feltcrowntutorial/
http://juicy-bits.typepad.com/juicy_bits/2008/09/32-felt-birthday-crown-tutorial.html

Here are some links to birthday party hat tutorials:

http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-sew-a-party-hat/2009/04/15/

http://imakestuff.typepad.com/i-make-stuff/2009/11/birthday-hat-tutorial.html

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/02/25/princess-birthday-hat/

http://suchprettythings.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/04/target-tuesday-pretty-party-hats.html#comments

Or, as always, you can grab one off of etsy.com if you don't want to make one yourself.

Happy 1st birthday, my little rock stars.  :-)