My Grandma's Birthday

Last Monday, was my Grandma's birthday. She would have been John and Gillian's great-grandmother. Unfortunately she passed away before Daddy and I got married. She never got to meet John and Gillian. But I know she looks down on us. I see a lot of her in my Gillian. 

Anyway after we went to the beach on Monday, we went to Grandma's house for lunch. After lunch we celebrated Grandma's birthday. We had cake, Dixie cups and M&Ms. It took awhile to explain to Gillian that we were celebrating MY grandma's birthday and not HER grandma's birthday. I told her all about how we would go to my grandma's house for birthday parties and we would get Dixie cups and she would save the plastic Dixie cups and fill them with M&Ms. 

Gillian enjoyed the celebration and would have made my grandma very proud. She ate every last bite of her ice cream. 

Cake

Yesterday was my birthday, we spent most of the day getting our house back to normal. We had new carpet installed on the second floor and yesterday we moved everyone back into their rooms. When Gillian found out that is was my birthday she asked "Can we make cake?" Gillian loves cake. Daddy promised her that they would make a cake together on Sunday. 

The first thing she asked this morning was "Can we make a cake now?" Daddy told her that they would make the cake while John was at religion class. After class I told John, we need to go to the store and get icing. He said "Can't we make icing?" Let me just say that I am so proud of him immediately thinking that we could make it. I said "Yes, but mommy doesn't have time today." John said "But everything you make at home tastes better than the store stuff." Again, this kid knows just what to say to make me feel amazing. I said "Thanks, but like I said before I don't have time today." 

We arrived home to find that Daddy and Gillian had made the cake. Well Gillian did all the work Daddy just cracked the eggs. 

I helped Gillian ice the cake. Gillian and John helped clean up the icing. 

The cake was delicious. Gillian did a great job!

 

The cake

When GillIan heard that it was Aunt Betty's birthday last week, the first thing she said to me was "When do we get cake?" She was a little distraught to find out that we weren't going to have any cake. I suggested that maybe we invite Aunt Betty over this weekend and make her a cake. GillIan loved that idea. "Yes, ask her!" I asked her "What kind of cake should we make?" GillIan said "A pretty one. Maybe pink. Or blue or her favorite color!" We brainstormed for a while about what to put in the cake and how to decorate it. Gillian loves cake so it is easy to keep her talking. So I asked Gillian why she liked cake so much. She said "I just want to eat it forever!" 

This morning, Gillian and I made Aunt Betty's cake while John was at karate. Gillian was very excited to help. She insisted on wearing her "Olaf" apron. 

We made a simple box cake. But Gillian was in charge of mixing. "Mama, you do the eggs. I mix!" She was an excellent assistant. She was patient and helpful. And waited until I was ready with the next ingredient. She mixed with a spatula. 

 

And she got to use the hand mixer too. It was her first time using one. She did tell me, "I get to lick them when I done!"

And yes, she got to lick the beaters. 

After we mixed the batter, we added orange sprinkles to make the cake confetti but with only orange. Cause orange is Aunt Betty's favorite color. Gillian helped me pour the batter in the pans and I put them in the oven. Gillian constantly checked the oven to see their progress. While the cakes were baking, Gillian made Aunt Betty a card. 

The cakes cooled and I frosted the cake with orange icing. I asked Gillian to decorate the top with sprinkles. She used orange and mixed sprinkles. She actually took handfuls of sprinkles and put them on top. But she was pleased with the finished product and that's all that matters. 

Aunt Betty came to visit today and Gillian was so happy to show her the cake. 

The cake was delicious and Aunt Betty was so happy. I'm glad I got to spend the morning with my little lady and Gillian was happy to get some cake! And surprise Aunt Betty too!

Marvelous

Tonight after dinner, John and Gillian were telling me about an episode of My Little Pony. Gilly said "They make a cake. It was marbleous." (That's not a typo, that is how she pronounced marvelous) I didn't really understand. And I looked at John to explain to me. He said "It's a marvelous cake. They named it something, but I don't remember the name." Gillian interuppted and said "Marbleous! It was a marbleous cake!" 

Fire Safety

Gillian and I picked up John from school today.  We noticed that there was a plastic fireman's hat in his backpack.  I asked John if a fireman came to school today.  He said "Yes!  We learned about fire safety."  I asked him to tell Gillian what that means.  He said to Gillian "You can't play with matches or lighters or fire.  You know why?  Because then you would lose everything that you love the most.  You know what that is?  You would lose your Baby!"  Gillian said "I no play with fire!"  He said "And Mom, you know what?  In the kitchen, you should put a rug in front of the oven.  And then you should tell Gillian that she can't play by the rug.  And you know what?  You should also put something on the handles of the pots.  That way Gillian can't get hurt.  And you need to not let the candles go to the ceiling!  And we should clean out the garage.  We need to make sure all the matches and stuff that makes fire is put away."  He kept going, and I said, "We should remember about the candles."  Gillian said "Yes.  The candles."  I asked Gillian, "Do you remember what do with the candles?"  She said "You put them in the cake!"  Everything always goes back to dessert with this one.  But John didn't miss a beat, "No, Gillian, we need to make sure the candles don't go up to the ceiling.  And we should only use them in case of emergency.  And only adults should light them!" 

When we got to the house, I was able to tape John telling me some fire safety tips.

    
When Daddy got home, John told Daddy "I got to see the inside of a fire truck today!"  Daddy asked him what you are supposed to do if you get caught on fire.  John said "First you stop (and he stuck out his arms).  Next, you drop (and he fell to the ground).  Then you roll (and he rolled all over the floor)."  John truly enjoyed having the fire department visit his school and he learned a lot today.

My little baker

Gillian likes to pretend to bake cakes. Her cakes always have interesting ingredients. We went to the beach on Saturday and Gillian made us some cakes in the sand. As she put sand in her pan, she asked "You like chocolate?" The she would add some sand. "You like sprinkles?" She added chocolate chips and cake and icing. Then it was time for me to taste it. As she handed over the cake, she said "It's just 'tend. Don't eat it!" I "tried" the cake and told her it was delicious. She then started from scratch and made Aunt Betty a cake too. After Aunt Betty enjoyed her orange and pink cake. Gillian made Daddy a cake. "You like brownies?" She certainly knows her audience. Love that my little girl likes to bake. 

Caaake Party

Aunt Missy and Uncle T invited us to their house for a party to celebrate their first anniversary. I told the kids it was a party to eat cake. This made Gillian super excited. All day yesterday, she said to me "We go to Missy's house now?" After asking me a million times I think she finally relaxed that we were not going to their house until today. 

On our way to Uncle T's house, we had to make a quick stop to pick up whipped cream. While we were taking our detour, John informed us "I don't think this is the way to Uncle T's." When we pulled onto their street John said "Finally! I thought we were never going to make it." 

When Gillian finished her dinner, she said "Is it time for cake now?" She sat and waited while Aunt Missy got everything ready for dessert. She even went outside and told everyone "It's cake time!" She was the second one to get a piece of cake. She ate all her cake and ice cream too. She even asked for a second helping of ice cream.

Cake, part 2

Last night was Little Kyle's birthday party. Aunt Trish made cupcakes with blue and white icing and a cake too. Gillian inspected the cupcakes and decided she wanted a blue one. She licked all the icing off first and then attacked the cake. She ended up with blue icing all over her face, but she enjoyed it!

Today, our neighbor, Mr. Matt, dropped off a big piece of wedding cake. He and Miss Brittany got married last night and he thought the kids would enjoy some cake. The kids had some cake for dessert. John said "It's better than delicious! It's delish!" Gillian didn't say anything about the cake, but she did pick up about half of it on her fork and try to shove it in her face. I think she liked it.  

Cake

Gillian is clearly my daughter. She loves cake and chocolate. Here are a few of her cake stories. 

A month ago, we were at Daddy's cousin's baptism. While sitting at the table and talking Gillian pointed and screamed "Cake!" Yes, the cake was being served, but she didn't need to announce it to the entire room. 

On Sunday, we had dinner at Aunt Missy and Uncle T's house. I asked Gillian what she wanted to eat. She had a few options, hot dog, cheeseburger or chicken. Gillian pointed at the counter and said "I have that!" I didn't know what she was pointing at. I named a few things. She shook her head and repeated "I have that!" We finally realized that she was pointing at the pan of uncooked brownies. She ended up eating a cheeseburger and when dessert was served she gobbled up her brownie. While her mouth was full of brownie, she asked for more!

Today was Dorlisa's birthday. For her birthday, Dorlisa was having a pizza party for Gillian'a class. On our way to school I was talking to Gillian about the pizza party. Gillian wasn't too excited about the pizza. But she did say "I wanna pink cupacake!" I told her that Dorlisa may not have pink cupcakes, but all she did was argue with me about it. When I picked her up today, I asked about the party. She said "I have five pizzas! I have brown cupacake! It was delicious." So glad she enjoyed the cupcake and wasn't disappointed that it wasn't pink!  

Petting Zoo and Craft Fair

Today we met Mimi at Freehold Raceway for Open Space Pace.  Bascially it is a festival for horses in Freehold.  They had a parade, races, vendors, music and a petting zoo.  We didn't get to see the parade of horses through downtown, but we arrived at the raceway in time to walk thru the vendors and go to the petting zoo.

John loved the petting zoo.  Gillian was a little unsure.  She wanted either Daddy or myself to hold her while she leaned over to pet the animals.  We walked around first and let the kids pet and see all the animals first and then we let John feed the animals.  He was a little unsure at first, but Daddy held his hand and showed him how to feed them.  John loved it.  He said "It tickles!"  After watching John feed a few animals, Gillian was ready too.  She fed the alpaca and loved it.  But she did tell me "This one is my favorite." while pointing at the donkey. 

 

After the kids had fun at the petting zoo, we watched a couple of races.  John and Gillian loved cheering on the riders (and horses).  We had a quick lunch and then we headed over to the Colts Neck Craft Fair.  Uncle T and Aunt Missy were there with a few cars from the dealership and a giant pumpkin.  They were giving a prize to the person that guessed the weight of the pumpkin closest without going over.  Uncle T had just purchased a funnel cake when we got there.  I felt really bad because Gillian and John just helped themselves.  We walked around the craft fair for a little bit and ended up buying a replacement funnel cake.  The kids had a great time, and even posed for a picture with the giant pumpkin.   

Cake

The kids and I had a relaxing night at home. I made grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner and put on John's favorite movie (this week): Popper's Penguins. I asked John to explain the movie to Gillian. He said "Gilly, there's this one penguin his name is Loudy. And he's really noisy." That's how he explained the movie. I think he touched on all the plot points.

After we ate dinner and I cleaned up, we moved our movie night to my room. Gillian brought her blanket and Kertmit too. Gillian kept covering me with her blanket and telling me to go to sleep. She would also rub my belly too. So relaxing. At some point she decided to sit on my belly. She started playing with my charm bracelet. She saw my cupcake charm and said "cake!" And she pretended to take a piece and feed it to me. Then she took a piece and ate some too. "Yummy! Cake!" I just love her imagination.