My Favorite Cake in the World

About a week ago my friend Jana posted a recipe for Rainbow cake. I had never seen a cake like this! It looked like it would be so much fun to make (and to eat), that I decided to try and make it with the girls. Result? Success! We had a blast making it (it's surprisingly very easy to make), and it was delicious. I swear, I have never been so happy to eat cake in my life. The cake literally makes you smile!

Recipe:

Supplies:
-2 boxes of white cake mix & associated ingredients (6 eggs, water and oil)
-3 cans of frosting
-6 colors of Wilton icing dye (they're in the cake decorating section at Walmart -near scrap booking stuff)
-2 9" round cake pans
-nonstick cooking spray

Steps:
-combine both cake mixes and associated ingredients in one large bowl
-divide batter into 6 smaller containers (about 1.5 cups in each)
-add 1 dye color to each container (red in 1 bowl, green in another, etc.)
-coat cake pans with spray and bake two colors at a time (follow heating temp on cake box -mine took about 12 minutes to bake)
-clean and coat pans and bake rest of layers
-when all layers are completely cooled, add the icing and decorate

SMILE and ENJOY!!! :-D

More work on the kitchen cabinets...

Lately I have been up to my home projects again. I have been inspired by my friend Molly, after seeing some of her paint work turn out beautifully!

In a post about a year (?) ago, I showed pictures of hardware I installed on our kitchen cabinets. Well yesterday I got a wild hair to accentuate some of the trim work on them. I broke out some chocolate-colored paint and finished up the project today. We're still not quite there with the kitchen, but it's definitely making progress. Ahh how I love my home projects... :-)

Happy 8th Anniversary to Conrad and Me!

I told Conrad it's amazing how much has changed in only eight years. We've lived in three houses, have moved to another state, and are expecting our third baby. It's almost like it's hard for me to imagine what my life was before I met Conrad because it seems like I've grown up knowing him all along. I love my sweetheart so much and can't wait for many more years to come. Thank you for our beautiful family and thank you for my beautiful life. I love you Con.

Goodbye scorching sun, hello clouds

Can I say how thankful I am for the wonderful clouds and cool breezes that have brought the temperature down from last week's highs?

After a week of record-breaking temps (Wednesday it got to 103ºC -the hottest temperature ever recorded in Seattle), it has finally cooled down. Though I'm happy for the dramatic change, I will admit the hot weather made for some great memories. Some of my favorites are:

-Days at the lake swimming

-Bronwen and Ava camped out in our room. We made a nest for them on the floor all week because our bedroom was the only one with air-conditioning. I know I may be chastised for saying this, but I think it's cozy when the kids sleep in the same room as us -at least for now ;-)

-8 pm cool-down baths. I can still hear the girls laughing and squealing each time Conrad sprayed them with cold water

-Not feeling at all guilty for spending money to go out to dinner (turning on the oven when the house was literally in the 90s would have been crazy), go to the mall, go to the movies, go to Starbucks, go to basically anywhere with air-conditioning to avoid going back to our house that I lovingly dubbed "The Furnace"

And, basically just surviving the week. The weather did make my nausea come back, and with it, swelling in my hands and feet, and Conrad and I got virtually no sleep. But, surprisingly I think we're tougher because of it. Some friends went to a hotel to cool down, but I'm proud of us for staying strong. It's nice to know you can make it through anything with your best friend by your side. It seems like for us, the hard times usually make the best memories.

I do have one question though...How did I survive summers in Albuquerque? Lol!