World Wednesday

My kids are not adventurous eaters.  They don't like tomatoes or peppers.  They only like certain foods when they are raw and not cooked.  It is really frustrating to spend so much time on dinner and have them tell me it looks gross and refuse to try it.
One day I came up with a flash of brilliance.  I decided to do one night a week where we try foods from other countries.  I figure they will either expand their pallet or they will realize that what I cook isn't so disgusting.  I also wanted Alex to give us a 2 minute report on the country as well to learn a little about their culture.  I figured it would be like a summer vacation without going anywhere.
Our first stop was to Germany.  My dad's whole side of the family is German. I wanted this to be a stop so my kids could learn a little about their family history.  I made beef rouladen and potato dumplings.  I did leave out the pickle in the rouladen as that just didn't sound good at all.  Plus pickles and I are not friends.  That is one thing I will NEVER eat.  Dinner was delicious.  Alex, loved it and Logan refused to eat it (except for a few dumplings).  We talked a little about German culture and talked about the Berlin wall.  Logan later told his dad that there was a huge wall in the middle of the city.  I will say our first attempt was a success.  Now to decide where our next stop will be.

Potato dumplings

Beef rouladen

Doesn't it look so good?

Yummmy

Logan ate it to fast to get a picture

Aaron ate the carrots and dumplings

My baby is one

I knew this would be the last first birthday party I would ever throw for my kids.  I wanted this to be fun for everyone who came.  I originally thought of a Star Wars theme since he was born on Star Wars day.  That quickly went out the window when I realized there was nothing that would work for a one year old.
I then thought this would be the first birthday we could celebrate outside so that got my mind spinning.  I came to the idea of a circus.  Who doesn't love a circus?  I spent a lot of time online googling and adding ideas to my list.  My list was complete and plans in place when I got a text from Andy.  He had to have surgery the Tuesday before Aaron's birthday.  I knew there was no way I could put together the lavish party and take care of him, three kids and trying to keep my house in order.
I immediately called in reinforcements, my mother, who was willing to come and help put my crazy ideas into action.  The only thing that had to be scaled back was the cake which I was okay with since I had never done a fondant cake before and knew that was a big task to begin with.
The day came and the weather was beautiful.  The food turned out perfect (we won't talk about the caramel apple cupcakes).  We had sliders, hot dogs, vegetables in plastic cups with dip, chips and lemonade.  There were also peanuts and popcorn for snacking.  We had tons of prizes for the games of ring toss, the ball throw and the bean bag toss.  The cakes, in my opinion, were so good.  I did a 2 layer cake, one layer was chocolate with chocolate mousse and strawberries and the other was yellow cake with lemon curd.  For Aaron's cake I decided to combine his 2 loves, cookie butter and bananas.  Alex helped me with the decorations and I think he did a fantastic job.
At the end of the day I will call it a success.  Everyone left full and happy and that's what is important.  It was a great day to celebrate this little boy who helped heal his mama's heart.  I love you Aaron!!!

The cake decorator

Aaron's cake

The spread

The cakes and prizes

The birthday boy

The games

He was spoiled

And he loved it

Not so sure about the flame on the cake

He was so slow at first

So Alex thought he would help.  He didn't like that plan.

But then he discovered the cookie butter frosting

And ate all of it

I forgot to take a picture before I cleaned his face.  He was a mess!!

All the cousins

He loves his new chopper

Leukemia

My SIL is currently battling Acute Myeloid Leukemia.  She has 3 boys and a baby girl, who is only 6 weeks old.  We know that cancer invades every aspect of your life.  It doesn't care that it is interrupting bonding time, family vacations and perfect health, it just barrels its way in.  Well cancer, you have messed with the wrong family, AGAIN.  We have faith and we have each other and we will not let you win.  Didn't you learn your lesson last time you tried to invade our lives?
My SIL lives far away and I was feeling helpless.  I thought for a while on what I could do and  fundraiser came to my mind.  How to help    Even with awesome insurance cancer is expensive.  Any little bit will help so please go to the link and donate today. We love you Janna!!!