A special treat

Shatto, a local and family owned and operated dairy farm, released a limited edition candy corn flavored milk last week just in time for Halloween. Only 4000 bottles have been released so you better run out and get one before I buy them all. This flavor in theory should not be good but it is simply amazing. The bottle at our house is almost empty. The best way to drink the milk and enhance the flavor is to pour it over a bowl of rice krispies. Sinfully delicious. Shatto is letting people vote on their specialty flavors that were released this year (chocolate cherry, mint chocolate, blueberry, apple pie, birthday cake, cookies and cream and candy corn) so that the favorite can be part of their ongoing production. Please vote CANDY CORN!

Gourds and Kittens

We visited the cutest pumpkin patch out in Missouri this weekend, called "pumpkins etc.".  We were the first ones there and found amazing pumpkins, gourds in all shapes and sizes, corn, a maze out of hay bails, a corn maze as well as a ton of tiny little kittens that were too cute for words.

Superheroes, old school style

Image by Fab Ciraolo Via Empty Kingdom

I just came across a link on Facebook via my brother in law's friend of these images and I just can't stop staring at the illustrations. I love the colors and the 90s characters hit home. The artist is Fab Ciraolo based out of Chili. These illustrations would look great on our walls.  I have a feeling our daughter wouldn't mind some of these either (she is after all a fan of She-ra). He has some other great and edgy illustrations on his website as well- make sure to check it out.

Image by Fab Ciraolo Via Empty Kingdom

 More of my favorites after the jump (note: NSFW)

Let there be CAKE!

This cake made me happy. The soft pink outside, the colorful ponies and the gooey chocolate inside. A few of you have asked about the recipe.  It is a mix match of 4 recipes that I have either found online or in my cookbooks. Here we go!

And this is four

I think the birthday weekend was a success. The little lady is so happy that she is 4 years old. We celebrated in style with her friends from school. My little pony, ariel, a teepee, birthday cake, baloons, decorations, lots of cards and an ungodly amount of candy were all part of her celebration. What more does a 4 year old want. Tomorrow I will post pictures of her birthday celebration, for now some pictures showing what a goofball this little lady is.

Zero, one, two, three......

Day 1: holding dad's finger

Time flies. Looking at my littlest one and seeing my almost 4 year old teenager, I can't believe how fast they really do grow up.  Here is a picture of Sas when she was first born, when she was 1,2 and 3. On Monday I will update you with pictures of her birthday and you will be able to see what 4 looks like! 

One: At the coast, hiking on the beach

Two: picture taken by the very sweet and talented Hannah Nielsen. Hannah D. Photography

Three: loves to crash weddings

Somewhere over the rainbow

I am taking advantage of the fact that I have some time to actually built a cake from scratch. The my little pony theme is on its way and will be topped with a rainbow made out of fondant. I decided to make a marshmallow fondant so the kids can eat it as well. It is the easiest (but messiest) recipe ever. You mix 1 lb of powdered sugar together with 8 oz of melted miniature marshmallows. You get a sticky mess and knead it like you would do with bread until it is silky smooth. You can then take small parts of it and mix it with various colors (I used wilton's food coloring).  The rainbow will dry out and harden a bit over the next couple of days and I will add it on top of the cake with some tong depressors dipped in candy coating to keep the rainbow together and hopefully it will stand up. Keep checking back soon for a final "cake" picture.