Daniel's version of the "Bus Song"

One of Daniel's favorite songs that we have to sing all the time at naps and bedtime is the "Bus Song".  It's a very versital song and we've made up many verses to keep it fun and interesting.  The basic song goes:

The wheels on the bus go round and round.
Round and round,
Round and round,
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
All through the town.

And then there are various verses such as:

The lights on the bus go blink, blink, blink
The engine on the bus goes brrrm, brrrm, brrrm
The people on the bus go up and down

And so on and so forth.

Well Daniel really loves to sing and so you will often hear him singing his favorite songs as he plays.  Today though he (I believe for the first time) made up his own verses to go along with the "Bus Song".  It's super cute though Daddy certainly made out better than Mommy!

I managed to convince him to do it on video so here you have it:

Easter Sunday!

We had a lovely Easter this year and it was so much fun with Daniel now that he is a little older and could understand and enjoy things more.  (See the next post for a little story on our attempt to explain the resurrection to Daniel!)

I was reminiscing this morning how two years ago Easter was the first Sunday that Josue and I made it back to church after Daniel was born (we left Daniel home with Grammie).  And then Daniel attended his first family gathering and met his Great Grandpa for the first time.  How quickly time has passed!

Anyways, we spent the afternoon enjoying family and delicious food!  And after Daniel napped we had a little egg hunt and gift for him...  Here are some pictures, enjoy!

Definitely the right way to start the morning!!! Pecan sticky buns :)

Grabbing a family picture before we totally forgot!  What a beautiful day we enjoyed today!

Daniel playing cars with the "big boys" after lunch!  They were so good with him!

Daniel and Daddy playing outside with the teather ball!  Daniel had so much fun with this!

Oh how I love that sweet, sweet face!

Thanks for taking the picture Micah!  Too bad Daniel wasn't ready :)  Daniel and I enjoyed some dessert outside on the lawn.

Daniel hunting for eggs!  He had so much fun!!

After finding each egg he had to stop, open it and eat whatever was in it (or put on the sticker as was the treat in some of the eggs).  So cute!

Finding another egg in the chives!

Trying to smile with Grammie for a pic, the sun was too bright!

Daddy helping Daniel find any Goldfish or Craisins that he missed and eat them :)

Daniel openning his gift from Mommy and Daddy, a bucket with some gardening tools so he can help Mommy in the garden this summer :)

Happy Easter everyone!  May you have had a blessed day and a wonderful time celebrating our risen Lord and the blessing of Life he has given you!

He is Risen Indeed!

It really is difficult to explain to a two year old how Jesus died and then rose from the dead.  Comparison sometimes works - in our attempt to get the point across to him we compared Jesus' death to him killing a bug the other day...  And then explained that while the buggie was still dead, Jesus isn't dead anymore.  I'm not quite sure how effective that was as death is so abstract at this young age.  However, when asked if Jesus was alive he did correctly answer "Yes!" and then proceeded to confirm, "Buggie still dead!"

LOL!  Love my boy and his simple understanding of things so much!

Happy 2nd Birthday Daniel!

My little boy is 2!  And time has flown so very, very fast!  If you read my previous post you got to enjoy hearing about many of Daniel's milestones over the past year so I won't include that here...

The day before Daniel's actual birthday we had a little party for him with just the Grandparents and Great-Grandparents.  Who to invite is such a dilemma because we have such a large family!  So we decided to keep it small this year.  The birthday boy was very excited about his party and especially about having cake!  So much so that I had to not talk about it for the week leading up to the party otherwise I would have constantly been trying to explain to an excited boy why we were not having cake today!

Here are some snapshots of the party - we enjoyed lunch with the grandparents after church and then dug right in to presents and then cake!

The birthday boy on his special day!  He was super excited to have a birthday shirt with a picture of cake on it!

Daniel opens his first gift from Great Grandpa and Grammie the Great - "I've Been Working on the Railroad" book with wheels!  He totally loves this!

Daddy has to read it right away!

Opening presents after lunch - this is one of Daniel's new favorite books - Richard Scarry's "Cars, and Trucks, and Things that Go!"

Daniel opens another book, "Curious George Makes Pancakes", and we promptly sat down and read it right there.  I love how our boy enjoys reading!!

Daniel received his first soccer ball this birthday!  Start 'em early!

When it was time to open gifts from Bua and Abuelo (Josue's parents) we did a Skype video call with Bua so that she could watch Daniel open the gifts.  This is how all video calls with Bua start out - silly faces!

Such a "funny boy!" as Daniel would say!

Daniel received a John Deere tractor apron and various child-sized cooking utensils and baking pans from Grammie and Grandpa.  He loves helping Mommy in the kitchen so this was so perfect!

Curious George tea set from Grammie and Grandpa!

Daniel knew exactly what is was and what to do with it!  I drink many cups of tea per day now!

Blowing out the candles - Daniel got them both all by himself!

VERY excited about eating his inchworm cake!

Quick picture with Mommy and Daddy before we dig into the cake.  Such a wonderful boy we have!

Mmmm, mmmm good!

Having some more tea at the new table from Mommy and Daddy!

Enjoying his bubble mower from Bua and Abuelo before crashing for naptime!

We really had a fun day and I think Daniel really enjoyed it.  At this age the simplest things make a child so very happy.  It was fun to just enjoy a relaxed afternoon and let him have the fun of being the center of everyone's adoring attention!

May God bless the coming year as deeply and more as He has this past one!!  As you remember us please pray that we will honor and glorify God with the way that we raise Daniel.  And that by God's grace we will train him and help him to grow into a Godly boy who understands God's love for him and loves Him back!

The Birthday Cake!

For those of you who are interested in the cake... here it is!

I didn't want to get too complicated with Daniel's cake because I was all caked out from my previous project.  So I decided to do something relatively simple - and yes this really is simple :)

Daniel's cake this year was an inchworm cake.  I got the idea from the Betty Crocker website, they have a lot of great kid's cake ideas that are very easy to do.  They use a lot of candy in their decorations, but since we don't really eat candy I just used icing instead.

Start out with a bundt cake.  I made a lemon pound cake - yummy!

Cut off 1/3 of the cake, cut it in half and use it to make the head and tail on either side of the 2/3 remaining cake which is the hump.  (Sorry I forgot to take a picture without the icing!)

Ice green (It takes a lot of icing to fill in the lumps from the bundt cake!  Oh, well...)

And decorate...  Brown for the dirt/mud along the bottom, yellow feet and then the mouth and eyes.

I particularly liked how the antenna turned out!  The instructions suggested using pretzel sticks for the antenna, but since Daniel was turning two it worked out perfectly to use two candles!

There you have it :)  And one happy child to go along with it!

My sweet boy is 2!

Well, the title says it all!  Daniel has reached the infamous age of 2 and every day we praise the Lord for what a sweet personality He has given him!  Daniel has had many milestones this year, some of which I will try to post here for your enjoyment and also to aid my memory in the future!

A few days shy of 14 months Daniel lept into walking and has been going strong ever since!  He is a running, climbing, playing boy in every way!  He's always full of delightful energy.

Daniel handles correction generally well (you know what I mean parents - you always have "those" moments).  And he is learning more every day.  We are proud of him and find that often times the issue is more us and our consistency than any fault of his!

Over the year Daniel has become quite the proficient talker!  I always say that he's just like his Daddy in this, a "very articulate" boy.  He says new and large words without any trouble and you can understand pretty much everything that he says.  The only word that I can think of that he says oddly is music.  Strangely enough he started out saying it correctly, but now he says "whiskit" for some reason!?

He understands a good number of abstract concepts.  From early on he has understood the concept of "another one" - when he was younger he would often point out that there was "another one" of a bus or animal and such.  Now he understands the concepts of "later", "tomorrow", "after this" or "after that".  He understands the difference between "big" and "small" - he pointed out to my mom the other evening while playing that he had a big and small fire engine.  He understands the ideas of "missing" something and "forgot" something.  And probably others that I just can't think of right now!

He can say the entire alphabet.  Nope, he doesn't even miss L-M-N-O-P, but we've always said that part very slowly.  :)  And he counts up to eleven.  He will also often identify that there are numbers or letters on certain objects.

Daniel eats very well by himself using silverware and (thank goodness) is a very neat eater.  I'm so grateful to never have needed one of those floor mats!

He's also Mommy's little helper.  For some time now he has greatly enjoyed helping Mommy bake and cook.  His favorite thing to do is "dump in" the ingredients and, of course, sample things as we go!  It brings the greatest delight to my heart when he sees the things that I've (we've) made and his eyes get all big and he says "Oooooooo..." in delight and desire!  He got an John Deere apron and a bunch of cooking pans and utensils for his birthday so I'm anticipating a lot of fun Mommy/son baking time!  In fact, we just made cookies today using his new kitchen stuff!

He is an avid reader and loves to be read to and takes great delight in getting new books.  His favorite book right now is Richard Scary's "Cars and Trucks and Things that Go".  He also loves Clifford books, Dr. Seuss and Boynton books.  He can really sit for quite a long time which is wonderful, but often puts Mommy or Daddy to sleep.

We started potty training when he was 13 months, after months of learning to sit and be patient on the potty he finally got #1 down pat.  And a few months later after resolving some digestive issues #2 is very consistent.  We are super proud of his progress and attribute many of his other successes to some extent to the confidence and independence that potty training has given him.

Daniel has always loved music and dancing and that love has grown over time.  He will dance to anything that has a good beat and he always wants to listen to music.  He enjoys when Mommy and Daddy sing fun songs and since he was about 22 months or so he has started singing along with us when we sing to him.

Daniel recently moved up from the nursery at church to the 2 year old class.  He has done very well with the transition and it has been good for him in many ways.  Potty training has been easier in this class as they're more attuned to that need.  Daniel enjoys the story times very much and has started singing new songs (that we have not taught him) that he has picked up in Sunday School!

Daniel loves Legos and building towers (and of course knocking them down!).  He has recently developed a great love for matchbox cars too.  He's a very independent player and enjoys roaming from one activity to the next.

Daniel is still a snugly boy and I'm holding on to that as long as I can!  He gives hugs and kisses so willingly it is a blessing!  And Mommy and Daddy's kisses still heal everything!  There have been a few occasions recently where he has woken up early from his nap and when I have gone in to soothe him he has fallen asleep in my arms!  I treasure those moments so much!

Daniel knows several Bibles verses now and every so often we try to teach him a new one.  These are the verses that he knows right now:
"Children obey your parents."
"Rejoice always."
"Trust in the Lord"
"Be kind to everyone"

He loves being outside and playing in the yard and he enjoys "helping" Mommy in the garden.  He also really enjoys going to the park and the swings have been a favorite, but lately the slide is the favorite attraction.  Last time I took him the slide was literally the only thing he did the whole time!

He is a technological wonder and is obsessed with any and every gadget he can get his hands on!  Of course isn't that true of all kids of this generation?  He has several old cell phones that are his to play with.  He knows how to unlock Daddy's touch screen phone as well as find the games to play and he always wants to be on the computer.  Thankfully we have been pretty good at keeping him away from the TV and so we haven't had that issue.  He just always wants to look at pictures and videos of himself or other little friends online.  :)

I know that as soon as I publish this post I'm going to think of a million other things I want to put up here...but oh well.  Hope you enjoyed it!

My latest project!

I thought I would share my latest project with everyone! My cousin Laura recently had a baby shower and I was enlisted to bake the cake! This was a very special event for me because we're expecting at the same time and Laura and I have been very close over the years as she is my only girl cousin my age. She and I were born 7 weeks apart and our children are due 8 weeks apart. :) Laura and Chris are expecting their first child, a little girl, the beginning of April.

So, in planning the shower with Laura's sister-in-laws, we decided to do a "ducky" cake similar to the one I had baked for Daniel's first birthday. However, it was a relatively large shower so we needed more cake than the duck provided so I baked a round base as well.

This was the largest baking project I've undertaken and so it took a LOT of planning and research and preparation! I'll warn you ahead of time - it's gonna be wordy - probably much more than most of you are interested in... But for me this was an important project and one I'm proud of and so I've written the details of what went into it. Here's a look into my work:

Several days before the shower I made the flowers that were to be placed on the cake. The flowers are made with royal icing which dries hard like a piece of candy. This made the flowers so much easier because I didn't have to worry about piping them directly on the cake. I just made a bunch ahead of time and then took the best ones and positioned them on the cake.

The flowers... These were about the size of quarters.

Piping lots of small purple flowers. It's a bit time consuming at the beginning, but totally worth it to not have to pipe them directly on the cake!

The finished flowers with yellow centers piped. They're piped directly onto wax paper and when they are dry they peel right off. Kind like the "dots" candy as one friend compared them to. :)

The two days before the shower I baked the cakes. This is the mold for the ducky cake. You fill the bottom half to almost over flowing with batter and then attach and tie on the top half so that it doesn't pop off during baking. This cake is a Strawberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake - pound cake works well with a molded cake because it is dense and holds its shape well.

With a toddler some of these things take all day and so I really had to work ahead. Daniel was soooooo.... excited about the ducky cake and just cake in general. Though he handled it very well that he didn't get to eat any right away!

This is the first layer of the base. It is a Sour Cream Almond Pound Cake that is a McDowell family (my Mom's side of the family) recipe. This recipe has been used for wedding cakes for many years in my family. It's very moist and rich! As you can see the cake gets a nice brown crust on the top. This had to be cut off to level the cake before stacking.

Day before the shower...ice and decorate the cakes. Here we have the base cake leveled and I've piped a thick ring of icing around the edge to keep my filling from oozing out when I place the second layer on top.

Now the layer is filled with raspberry preserves. I used raspberry because it is a bit tart and helps to balance out the sweetness of the cake!

Here we have the second layer placed and I've crumb-coated the cake (a thin layer of icing to seal in the crumbs - makes putting on the final layer a lot easier!).

Now I've put on the final layer of icing and smoothed it out. Still working on this skill - but truth be told - it doesn't matter too much by the time you get your other decorations on! This cake is done for the day, I was plump tuckered out and frankly ran out of time and so I finished the decorations for the base the day of the shower. Thank goodness my Mom watched Daniel for most of the day or else who knows how much I would have been able to accomplish!

Now moving on to decorating the ducky. You start with the beak and eyes and then move on to the body. The beak is done just with a spatula. The eyes are piped on, whites first and then the blue centers. However, you get the smooth appearance by patting the icing with your finger dipped in cornstarch. A nifty little trick that is really useful! The cornstarch is absorbed into the icing and you are left with a smooth surface, no lines!

Here I'm piping the body with stars. You cover the entire body with stars and then do the wings with a "pull-out" star to give the appearance of feathers. By the way the duck is placed on a cardboard base (cut to size) to make it easy to lift to place on the cake and then easy to remove when you have to cut the cake. This is tedious work, but it looks really great in the end. I like this style of decoration better than simply icing it with a spatula.

And so here you have the finished ducky! Just a few more details to put on to make it look more like a "girl" ducky (since my cousin is expecting a little girl).

Here I've piped on eyelashes and little baby "hair spikes" with a bow to make the duck look more girly. A great idea provided by my cousin (in-law) Deanna. The ducky is now finished! BTW - to get that black icing it works best to start with chocolate icing, that way you don't have to add tons of food coloring! And here I am done for the night!

Morning of the shower - I was up early to work on the base... Just basic shells around the edges and then placing the first round of large flowers. Since the royal icing is hard you just have to pipe a dot of butter cream on the back and then stick them where ever you want on the cake. In the center you can see where I have marked the place for the ducky to go. I also placed 6 dowel rods in the cake to support the weight of the duck.

Here I've finished placing most of the flowers and have also piped the leaves on. The base is now ready to go. I put the ducky cake on the base at the actual location. There was no way I was risking it toppling over on the drive to the location. Especially because of all the curvy and bumpy back roads we had to travel on!

And here you have it folks! The ducky is placed and the cardboard is covered with flowers and leaves to bring the two cakes together nicely.

A close up of the flowers around the edge and base of the duck. Ok - I'm sorry - but I'm just super proud of this :)

About to cut the ducky's head off! Dismantling and cutting the cake was sooooo.... hard after all the work that went into it!!

And, of course, a picture of me with the Mommy-to-be and our bellies!!