Ok, for the record, I definitely had help with this! My sister, Caitlin, is considerably more confident in the kitchen than me, and even she was a little nervous for part of this recipe. Luckily, we had each other, and even my mom for part of it, despite the fact that the cake was for her. Behold!

The recipe can be found here. The icing recipe is attached to the original recipe on the link.

We made the layer cakes the night before. The batter was gorgeous! I believe the recipe says to bake for 25-30 minutes so, coming from a home where the oven is always way hotter than the recipes seem to think, we set the timer for 23 minutes and left it alone. When we checked it, the cakes looked wet and bright white still. So we confidently threw them in for another five minutes. After that, they were still surprisingly white! We were kind of floored, and then really floored when the toothpick test came out clean! The sides had browned beautifully, but the cakes were just stark white. If it isn’t obvious, I usually make cake mix cakes. This is a very new development for me!  We put the layers in the freezer so they would be easy to ice together the next day.

Here’s the scary part. Homemade caramel icing!!! There are easy, four ingredient icing recipes that we had lined up for backup plans, but I was hellbent on making this exact cake and Caity was game. So we put all the SUPER HEALTHY ingredients in my biggest pot (before a stock pot) and stirred and stirred. It was really frustrating at first, since its milk-based, and we had to be extra careful to not scorch anything. Yet, if we kept it on any heat, it would foam up sooo fast! It took a while for it to boil down at all. We kept at it, even though it really just looked like we were stirring milk, foaming up, foaming back down, stirring milk, foaming up, foaming back down. And then all of a sudden, there was a yellow streak in the milk. We thought it was maybe butter that hadn’t stirred it, but the icing progressively got yellower. Light, light yellow, but yellow nonetheless. We were probably already a good half hour into the process and pretty much ready to throw the towel in. And then we tasted it. Expecting a “buttered popcorn” flavor, we were more than thrilled to be greeted by an undeniable buttery caramel! It was still a pretty long job after that but oh so worth it! Once the caramel was at the “soft ball stage” (I definitely looked that up on youtube) we had to pull it off the stove and just stir the crazy out of it for several minutes to get it into an icing texture. I have not worked out my arms that way ever, and my son is like a solid sack of potatoes. Either way, a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (and butter AND Crisco) went into this cake! So worth it, everyone.

Not your average cake. I can vouch.

My little boy pulled himself up today 😀 I could not be prouder. I could not be sadder to see his potbelly go. I also could not be more afraid of how baby-ready my house is not. Well, I could probably be more afraid, but I’m probably a six out of ten.

He was at my parents place, playing on the floor, as per usual. He’s been getting a lot stronger in the last few days (literally) and since this morning, he’s been pulling up on his knees. Something he’s probably been able to do for a long while, but just hasn’t really cared to. He’s always been a bit like that. Only rolled at 6.5 months, only sat at…maybe 8 months? Only started crawling on his hands and knees in the last week, so thats about 11.5 months. He’s a chubby baby who is happy to sit like a bump on a log and pat the floor. However, he grabbed onto my parents’ ottoman/hassock/whatever and yanked up onto his knees, then got his little feet under him and gave a big push. All the way to standing! He looked around, making sure everyone caught it, then sat his little bum down and didn’t do it again for the rest of the evening. Its like his little way of saying “Don’t stress, mom. I can do it. I’m not behind, I’m just content.” Such a breath of fresh air for me.

A few days ago, we had Dekker photographed while he pulverized a rainbow cake I baked for him in celebration of his upcoming first birthday. We had some pretty pictures first, then the cake destruction, and lastly, a bubble bath. Unfortunately, my poor little Pumpkinhead was teething like a mad mad (yes, eye teeth are proving to be the worst) and wasn’t in the best frame of mind. He’s a total trooper and did great with only a couple breakdowns in the middle. He isn’t super smiley in lots of the pictures but being that he is sooo beautiful anyway, and that the photographer was very patient and loving, it worked out wonderfully. Anyone in the area should definitely check out Melissa Meaker Photography on Facebook! She’s a doll.

Ya, these are just a few, too! So many fabulous pictures of my beautiful Dekker. Only eleven more days until we can do it again!!!

Yesterday was the perfect date day. We ate hotdogs by the river for supper, and then went to the concert that I have been anticipating for a good year.

It was fabulous! Not only was there more music to compile into a set (having three albums out instead of the two last year)  but the band was way more confident! They were more talkative, funnier, less crude, and just generally happier. The crowd was waaay bigger too! I heard later that not only were the bleachers completely filled, but people were being turned away to get into the standing room only pit area on the ground. Insane! It was so tight in there, my shoes were touching others peoples shoes! It was awesome though. A whole different experience than last year, up in the bleachers with such a sore back. Brady stood behind me the whole time and took tons of pictures and videos. He knows I have a huge crush on the lead singer, and took so many shots of him 🙂 He’s a good hubby. After standing in front of the stage for a good three hours, our feet were almost falling off, so we walked as far as we needed to in search of lemonade and then headed back to the car. A good half hour later we were out of the parking lot and on our way home. It was truly a fabulous evening!

*sigh* He’s so dreamy.

Today was spent with family, playing with my beautiful baby son and eating some of the best burgers I’ve had in my life. I am now full, tired, and have something in my eye that I can’t seem to get rid of. I think I’ll sign off right away here, but before I do, I have to share one more picture. Dekker had a little photoshoot the other day called a Cake Smash. In celebration of his first birthday (less than two weeks away now!) I made him a cake to destroy, and the lovely photographer next door photographed it for us! I’ll give you a little preview and then I’ll post more tomorrow or the next day. Behold, silly baby Dekker:

So pretty 🙂

 

I talked in my last post why I’m looking forward to today. I get to go see my favorite band in concert tonight! For those of you hate my band, haters be hatin’ and keep it to yourself, haha! I’m so very excited! I’ve anticipated this show for way too long. AWESOME! That aside, today is still perfect. My deck is finished. No more sawdust. My kitchen is completely covered with dirty dishes, and I’m so over it. It proves that my life has been insanely hectic and there has been no time for dishes. I’m thankful to have so many dishes! There are bags of non-perishable groceries by the door, still packed. I love that I have food to eat! A little mess never hurt anyone, right? I have such better things to do than tidy! See what I made?!?!

Anyone else think this looks much more important than tidying up my counters?? It sure tastes a lot more important!

I am truly relieved to have this silly deck project behind me! We put in the final pieces today, lay down on the deck, and zoned for a few minutes. Never. Again. Until we have to rebuild the deck my our other entrance, so maybe next year. Sigh. Of course we still need to sand thing whole thing down and clear coat it, but frankly, if that doesn’t all happen immediately, I’m fine with it! The pressure of the deck is off. I can breathe.

Earlier today, we went into the city and had a really nice time! We had to pick up some groceries and gifts and such for the upcoming weekend, as my parents celebrate their birthdays on the 9th and 11th of August. For the first time in my life, I am so excited to cook and bake and contribute to birthday parties. I haven’t been a very good sister or daughter for very long, so doing things like making my mom’s birthday supper is new and exciting and a little scary. But mostly exciting 🙂 I love all the preparation for it anyway, how hard can the cooking part really be?

After such a nice day, I couldn’t be more excited for the concert tomorrow! The exhibition is in town and with that comes a concert that I’ve waited for since last summer. I was super pregnant then and we had to sit waaay up in the bleachers…

Not this year. This year, I will be in the crowd with all the ditzy fourteen year old girls, screaming and jumping and trying to touch the lead singer because he’s sooooo hot! No, people, I will not be throwing my bra onstage. Who does that?!?!

First, a humorous story. I baked a cake last night. Right before bed. You see, a lovely new friend has surfaced and offered to take some cake smash pictures of Dekker for his first birthday. Of course, neither of us can wait until he’s actually one (in about two weeks!!!) so we’re planning to maybe take some this evening. Very exciting!!! So I thought I’d bake the cake layers last night and then freeze them so they’d be all solid and I could cover them with icing without it getting crumb-ridden. Did you know you’re supposed to lay wax paper in the bottom of the cake pans? Because it sure doesn’t say it on the back of the cake mix box!! Hahaha, oh boy. What a mess 🙂 Both my beautiful cakes stuck to the bottom and fell out of the pans in chunks. Luckily I was tired enough to be able to laugh at it and fall asleep without feeling too hot and bothered.

It was, however, the first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning. In case you were wondering, They turned out waaay better the second time! And by better, I mean they came out in one piece. A HUGE success! I’ll pull them out to ice them in the next hour or so, and then when Dekker wakes up, prepare to be photographed! A lot!!!

Like I’ve mentioned before, my son sleeps like its nighttime all the time, so while he’s been teething away and sleeping like a log, we’ve been pouring over our deck to get it finished. And you know what? WE DID!!! Ok, we ran out of 2x6s to finish the top of the stair railing (Thanks for nothing, Co-op) and being a long weekend, everything is closed. But still, this is something to really celebrate!!! We’ll go pick up the last piece tomorrow morning, screw it on, and the whole ugly deck debacle will be over. For those who have followed this annoying journey, take a deep breath with me. Its over. The big scary monster is dead. Frankly, even if he isn’t, he’s not allowed on the deck! You’re safe there.

Here:

*sigh*

Church was awesome today. And dare I say, it wasn’t really because of the service. I mean, what I saw and heard was great, but it was joined with another church from town and there were so many babies! So many beautifully distracting babies 🙂 I left my spot at one point to go use the washroom and ran into one of my favorite babies. So I chatted and cooed until she fell asleep in her mothers arms. Forgetting my need for the bathroom altogether, I went back into the service. Not many minutes later, I remembered my purpose for leaving originally. I headed out a second time to take care of business, but didn’t make it past the mailboxes. A beautiful little baby girl was sitting in the foyer with her daddy. Apparently she’s a little too chatty for being in the service. I know about that. I have a pretty chatty one myself. I was completely smitten with her, as she was very mild mannered, and came to me without any fuss or hesitation. I held her and became acquainted for quite some time, and all of a sudden, I heard the closing song. So I inadvertently skipped church, but for such great reasons. Little babies. Short and sweet.

After church we headed to my parents and had lunch, like almost every other Sunday. Dekker was down asleep at about 12:30. My mom and I decided to ditch the boys and head to Saskatoon to run just a couple of errands together. We took a nice break and had some Starbucks together. Hear me say this now: LAYERED caramel frappuccino! Felt like such a nice girl date. My mom is short and sweet 😀

I don’t have a lot of Dekker-free time and while I adore my son completely, I think every parent understands the freedom in just a little bit of baby freedom. Just short and sweet.

Another day working on the deck down and I’m pretty confident there is only one more to go! We got the railings almost all set up, we just have to put up 26 more pickets/spindles/whatevers and we’re pretty much there! Well, I guess technically we still need a railing by the steps but that will be quick. I’m sooo happy to be as far as we are!

I’m so happy I have a son who sleeps like its always nighttime so I’ve actually been able to get out there with Brady and help. I’m so thankful for the tan on my back that makes me look like a roofer or framer. I’m so thankful for sweet, crunchy BC cherries in our fridge, and even more thankful that they were a gift from a lovely friend. You know who you are. I’m so happy to have a husband that doesn’t find my presence in his work area a nuisance, who says he’s happy to have my help without me having to ask. I’m so happy that some of my ideas made the build go faster. I’m thankful that the breeze kept the horseflies away. I’m thankful for my beautiful soaker tub that makes me feel like royalty every single evening, and the new awesome series on Netflix that I will watch while soaking in aforementioned bubble bath.

I’m thankful to have grown up in a family where we all went around the table and said what we were thankful for.

I scanned my calendar today and really couldn’t be happier with what I found. I have something great every week to look forward to. I’m not booked solid every day like the last half of July, just comfortably scheduled so I know that I will enjoy my August.

Next week I have family coming out, my parents birthdays, and a concert I’ve waited a year for. The week after that I’m connecting with a friend for the first time in quite a while, and doing a bunch of prep for Dekker’s birthday. And the week after that, Dekker officially turns one! Weirdly enough, I’m sooo excited for his doctors appointment! I want to know how big he is, that he has a clean bill of health, and I want his doctor to be sooo impressed with him. I mean, how could she not be? He’s clearly fabulous!

So, with Dekker’s party coming up in a few weeks, I want my yard to look nice. This means getting the blasted deck finished, (tomorrow, weather permitting) mowing the grass regularly enough so that it doesn’t have grass piled all through it, and fixing the garden up. Remember way back, when I said my garden was dying and I was super disappointed? Well, the good news is that about 75% of it lived! The bad news is that its completely weeded over and the thought of weeding it is pretty ominous. It looks awful, and I want it to be better before his party. I find motivation for that type of task so hard to come by. But I will! It just may end up being the day before.