Jake Turns 6!!!!

I can't believe it. We're the parents of a six year old. Seems like just yesterday, we were bringing him home from the hospital and Jamie Coldsnow was making us a steak dinner to welcome us. We were at Vance AFB in Enid, OK...SIX YEARS AGO!!! Wow, time really flies. Jake is just such an amazing kid. He's bright, sweet, fun...just a good kid. We are so blessed to have him as our son.

Well, this year, Jake asked for an ocean themed party. I was excited to do this one. Thomas was getting old. We got a few ideas and set out. Everything ended up coming together quite nicely. I made a big round ocean cake with a few different sea creatures and a shark popping up out of the water chomping on a number 5 candle. Andy likes to tell everyone he made the "fondant" which he thought was a word that meant decoration. He really did help...I couldn't have broken the corner off that graham cracker for the dorsal fin without him :-) He did get creative, too, aside from making the "fondant". He picked out a fishy assortment of beer: dogfish and landshark and bought the cool crab hat (and the $18 2-pull pinata) when I sent him to pick up the balloons. Okay, back to the food. You know me, I'm all about the food. We had hotdog octopuses (or octopi???) on a bed of green seaweed ramen noodles, shells and cheese, goldfish crackers, fish swimming in blue jello in my trifle bowl (note to self: don't make this again the day before. The swedish fish get saturated, absorb the blue color and quite frankly get GROSS! Lesson learned.) Then we had some shrimp dip and crab dip and landlubber's delight (pulled pork), sea creature-shaped cookies, as well as a few other basics (veggies, cheese and crackers, etc). It was fun coming up with "fishy" ideas.

For the first time, we actually played games with the kids instead of letting them just play. It was more work, but really fun. We had them fishing with a magnet and some fish made out of construction paper and can lids, pinning the fin on a shark, and tossing various stuffed sea creatures into the square risers for my step aerobics step, marked with various point values. They also put together a giant under the sea floor puzzle and did the pinata (well, two kids did the pinata as it was a pull string one and the second kid picked the string that opened the flap...not bad for $18!). And the kids created oceanscapes with foam sea creatures, crayons, rubber stamps, and glitter glue for Jake to make his thank-you notes on.

And the coolest part, I thought was that we decorated the whole basement (the new party spot) with the art projects Jake made at the Little School last year for their big art show. His class did an ocean theme (convenient), so we had tons of cool things he made stuck on the walls and on tabletops, in addition to a couple big sharks I picked up at the party store and the one I made for pin the fin on the shark. With blue balloons and streamers, and blue walls, we felt like we were really below the sea!

We had a blast. Jake had a great time celebrating with his friends and family and so did we. Happy Birthday, Jake! We love you!!!!

Andy wearing his cool crab hat he picked out and his riversharks shirt. He was the only one "dressed" for the party theme and he was so proud of himself!My definitely homemade ocean cake. It wasn't perfect, but Jake liked it and that's all that counts. And it tasted really good, so that made me happy. I'll post the recipe: peanut butter...YUM!!! The fishing game
presents. lots of presents. Jake, you're a very lucky boy. Better get started writing those thank-you notes and you might be done by Christmas!

Happy Birthday to you....

Ewa leading the floor puzzle crew

Jon pinning the fin on the shark. Good call on the hat, babe. It also served as the blindfold.

Toss the sea creature...the squares got a bit moved around, but they had fun.

Okay, for the recipes so many of you asked me for:

Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist butter recipe yellow cake mix
1 ¼ c. water
½ c creamy peanut butter
½ cup butter, softened
3 eggs

Heat oven to 350. Grease or spray 9x13 cake pan or 24 cupcakes (use wrappers). In large bowl, beat dry cake mix, water, peanut butter, butter and eggs for 30 seconds on low, then on medium for 2 min, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pans and bake for approx. 32 minutes (less for cupcakes) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
½ cup butter, softened
½ c. peanut butter
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. confectioners’ sugar
2-3 Tbsp milk.

In large bowl, beat butter, peanut butter, cream cheese, and vanilla until smooth and fluffy at medium speed. Add sugar and 2 Tbsp milk. Beat on low until blended and then increase speed to medium-high; beat 2 min or until frosting is light and fluffy, occasionally scraping bowl. If necessary, beat in remaining 1 Tbsp milk for better spreading consistency. Can tint frosting with Wilton gel coloring. Spread evenly onto cooled cake.

Also very popular were the cookies, so here's the recipe for those, too.

Roll-Out Cookies

1 cup butter (no substitutes)
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix powder and flour, add one cup at a time, mixing after each addition. The dough will be very stiff. Do not chill dough. Divide into 2 portions. On a floured surface, roll each portion into a circle approximately 12 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick. Dip cookie cutters in flour before each use. Bake cookies on an ungreased or parchment covered baking sheet for 6-7 minutes. Cookies should be just slightly brown around edges. Allow a couple minutes to cool on sheet and then remove to cooling rack to cool completely. Makes 20-24 average-size cookies. Note: dough can be tinted with Wilton icing color. For chocolate cookies, blend in 3 ounces melted, unsweetened chocolate.

ENJOY!!!!!