Busy

I'm alive. I've just been busy. We moved 2.5 weeks ago into a new rental house and it has taken me a full two weeks to recover from it. (Side note: I really hate moving. I actually wrote a poem about it, which I considered sharing here, but it is rated pg-13 for language so I decided against it.) Jared was also on spring break during part of that time, I was sick, then my mom came to visit, and then my kids got sick. I have also been busy doing cartwheels in the nice spring weather and making out with Mr. Sun. (He was away for quite some time and absence always makes the heart grow fonder...) Hopefully I'll be back to blogging more regularly soon. In the meantime, Happy Spring!

It's a Miracle

And this folks, is a clear blue sky. I'm not sure when I saw one last. No wait, I am. It was February 8th (nearly a month ago) because I took a picture of it that day too. Unbelievable. I guess dreams really do come true. They do come true!

(I'm obviously not all the way there mentally by the time March rolls around but there are only 16 days until spring so there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Bear with me.)

Happy Birthday to Jared

Happy Birthday today to my sweet and hunky husband.
I'm so happy you're mine!

PS This is Jared's cross country pin from the 9th grade or something. (I added the cheesy smooches because seriously, what a hottie!)

ROY G. BIV (In Cake Form)

The Mister's birthday is this week but due to a very full calendar, we decided to celebrate with family over the weekend. I made a rainbow cake which ended up being a big hit with the adults and the kids. When I said I brought a rainbow cake, everyone assumed in was a "Funfetti" cake and so were pleasantly surprised when we cut into it to reveal 8 layers of food coloring over dose!

I was sort of guessing as I went along and it seemed to turn out okay. Here is how I did it, for those of you who are curious: I used two white cake mixes and made them according to the package directions. Once the cake mix was made, I put one heaping cup full of batter into a bowl and added the appropriate food coloring. (It is important to measure the batter so all the layers end up being the same thickness. Also, I used Wilton's gel food coloring you find in the cake decorating section at Michael's. I think it is more concentrated than the liquid kind.) Since I only have two round cake pans, I baked two colors at a time, 350 degrees for 15 minutes, and then washed out the pans and reused them. I was totally guessing with the amount of batter for each layer and I ended up with one cup left over. Hence the pink layer in my Roy G. Biv cake. I frosted the cake with Swiss Buttercream. It's not as sweet as regular buttercream and I think it is easier to work with. You can find a recipe for it here. (Note: I used the recipe for a 9 inch cake and I had enough frosting for the whole thing. However, I only used a scant amount between each layer. If you like a lot of frosting, you might consider doubling the frosting recipe.)
Have fun!

(Inspiration for the rainbow cake from here.)